Strengthening the Scientific Ties Between India & US, IIT(BHU) Varanasi Collaborates with U.S. National Science Foundation

New Delhi: In a recent development, I-DAPT-HUB Foundation, a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) at IIT (BHU) Varanasi collaborates with U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) for joint research of Data Analytics and Predictive Technologies (DAPT). The research focuses to solve societal challenges of both the respective countries and scale up the Science and Technology relationship between India and the United States.

I-DAPT hub foundation will support financially which is anticipated to be up to INR 10 million for research on DAPT and its application in Power/Energy, Telecommunications, Road transport, highways, and Health & Family welfare thrust areas.

Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain, Director, IIT (BHU) Varanasi said, “During this pandemic period we all witnessed how Data Analytics and Predictive computing played a major role in the pandemic preparedness and the development of vaccines. He said that the scientific community today is looking towards powerful high-performance computing and predictive technologies to gain a better understanding of major societal challenges and create solutions through a multi-dimensional approach. Govt. of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also allocated Rs 14,217 Crore for the development of science and technology in the Union Budget 2022-23. Thus, this explains that the creation of an extensive research ecosystem is the need of the hour and this joint collaboration between the world’s two largest democracies will boost the economy, create jobs and bring prosperity.”

I-DAPT HUB Foundation Project director Prof. Rajiv Prakash emphasized that Indo-US collaboration is playing an important role in the innovation development dimensions and it will tap the talent pool of scientists, Entrepreneurs of both countries. This will help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by Govt. of India intended to be achieved by 2030.

“Bilateral collaboration like this nurtures contacts between young scientists and technocrats to develop mutual trust, foster excellence, and explore new frontiers. It also encourages public-private partnerships to foster elements of Innovation, Application, and Enterprise” said Prof. Vikash Kumar Dubey, Dean(R&D) of IIT (BHU).

Coordinator of I-DAPT Hub Foundation and Senior member of IEEE Dr. Rajeev Kumar Singh said “IUSSTF’s USIAI Initiative focuses on AI cooperation in critical areas that are priorities for both countries. This will serve as a platform to bring academia, industry, and government together on the same table to overcome research challenges and catalyze new innovations.”

This Invitation for Proposal of Indo- US collaborative research is open and will remain active till April 25, 2022, for the first round of screening.