New Delhi: India’s inaugural FutureLABS facility at C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram was opened by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Jal Shakti, on Tuesday. Named the “Centre for Semiconductor Chips & Systems for Strategic Electronics,” this center will play a pivotal role in fostering an environment for advanced chip design, production, and research.

Additionally, there were several notable announcements, including a partnership between C-DAC (T) and the Ministry of Railways for the advancement of electric locomotive technologies. An MoU was inked between C-DAC(T) and Tata Power for the advancement and implementation of microgrid technologies. Furthermore, there was news of the transfer of technology for an electric vehicle wireless charger, jointly developed by C-DAC(T) and VNIT Nagpur, to BelRise Industries Limited.

Accompanied by key industry collaborators, the Minister addressed over 100 students, elaborating on the opportunities this center will offer them.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “You have seen the amount of silicon in Chandrayaan 3 and electronics in INS Vikrant, both have deep roots in Kerala. The idea of FutureLABS is a partnership between CDAC and the government system, industry, students, startups, and academia. Our vision is very clear in the government and in the industry that the world’s digitization and the digital economies of the world are expanding today at an unprecedented pace. Three areas have great potential for Indian startups and students — AI, Semiconductors, and the future of electronics. CDAC will be a willing and facilitating partner to create these labs within colleges and universities. This initiative will make Thiruvananthapuram India’s next innovation hub.”

The Minister also explained the inherent necessity for such collaborations and initiatives. He highlighted, “India has made tremendous strides in the semiconductors, for 75 years we had no presence in semiconductors at all, and in the last few years we have received 2.5 lakh crores of investments and we are now e creating an ecosystem that ranges from Fabs manufacturing, innovation, packaging, design, skills, and research. Digitization and digital technologies are accelerating at an unprecedented pace even in areas that are not intuitively digital, technology is making its presence felt. So clearly Digitization as a trend is increasing. The second trend is that Semiconductors and Artificial intelligence are two dominant technologies that are going to shape the future of what we know as Tech in the coming years. The third is that every system that you know today whether it’s the laptop, desktop or the serve, automotive, or railways is being redesigned and re-architected almost from scratch. So there is an opportunity today to completely re-architect and redesign systems. I call this the next wave of startups, the next wave of systems, and the next wave of innovation, it’s what the future of LABS is all about.

The industry partners in attendance highlighted how collaboration with C-DAC has bore fruit and therefore they will continue their support in enhancing Kerala’s tech innovation ecosystem.

Atul Deshmukh, VP of eMobility, Kalyani Powertrain Ltd said, “We have been able to scale and excel because of the continuous support and strong leadership of Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. We look forward to more such partnerships through these initiatives.”