IIT Bombay and NEC Technologies India inked an agreement to deepen research and development in the area of big data analytics, IoT and AI to tackle India’s social challenges. According to a statement, the MoU between IIT Bombay and  NEC Technologies India (NECTI) will cover a broad range of areas and address key government initiatives such as smart cities, the logistics and transportation domain. The statement revealed that one of the key areas that will be covered as part of the collaboration is the use of big data analytics to optimize the movement of logistics containers across the country, which will render shorter times for the delivery of goods and lower logistics cost.   

Under this MoU, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and NECTI will jointly work on value creation for major Government initiatives across smart cities, as well as for the Logistics and Transportation domain, by leveraging advanced technologies. One of the areas this joint R&D aims to explore is the use of big data analytics to optimize the movement of logistics containers across the country, which can result in shorter times for the delivery of goods and lower logistics cost.   

According to Dr Akihiko Iketani, Head of NECTI’s NEC Laboratories India (NLI), “The signing of the MoU further strengthens the existing ties between NECTI and IIT Bombay. More than 30 graduates have joined NEC’s Central Research laboratories in Japan since 2012”.  

Dr Suhas Joshi mentioned how IIT Bombay has built significant research capabilities in collaboration with corporates investing heavily in R&D, including firms from Japan. “We believe that such cooperation would open up new avenues of research for our students and faculty members. We look forward to a impactful collaboration, which can make a significant impact in our society.”

Dr. Iketani further added that the collaboration and the joint R&D effort will help in addressing the social challenges posed by rapid urbanization and economic development in India, and counter societal issues such as air pollution and road congestion, thereby resulting in safer and smarter cities.