IIT Guwahati submitted a proposal to the Minister of State for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan, to set up a Centre of Excellence in Advanced Communication on campus in order to study and develop systems of next-generation communications. This comes after the MoS visited the institute and was impressed by the infrastructure and research already in place on communications, connectivity and other related areas. The minister also met with the regional telecommunication officials at IIT Guwahati and discussed the enhancement of connectivity and services to the region.
Director of IIT Guwahati, Prof TG Sitharam said that IIT Guwahati was a knowledge hub that can provide technology platforms to deliver solutions to the issues of connectivity in the North East region. He also proposed that by joining hands with the Ministry of Communications, improving telecom infrastructure and training human resources for operations of telecommunications facilities will be made easier.
The minister, who was given a tour of the campus, was introduced to the supercomputer Param-Ishan and its capabilities and applications in weather forecasting and healthcare applications, amongst other scientific and technological usages. The minister was also informed about another upcoming supercomputer, Param-Kamrupa, on campus. The Computer and Communication Centre at IIT G also initiated the minister to the communication and network infrastructure, HPC facilities, and the newly opened Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. Chauhan also inaugurated the BSNL EPBAX Exchange and BHARAT Fibre Services at the institute.
The minister was also made privy to the 5G-related research and development activities, including design, fabrication and characterisation for the 5G millimetre-wave, apart from a presentation on research on various other Heterogeneous Network applications. Chauhan said that the infrastructure and research developed at IIT-G could help develop technology for the masses and hasten connectivity and network penetration into the rural areas.