IIIT raises Rs 15 crore for research on computer science

New Delhi: As part of Delhi Government’s pilot scheme on “matching fund promoting" research, Indraprastha Institute of information Technology (IIIT) has raised Rs 15 crore for research on computer science, information technology and several new-age interdisciplinary courses.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 11

As part of Delhi Government’s pilot scheme on “matching fund promoting" research, Indraprastha Institute of information Technology (IIIT) has raised Rs 15 crore for research on computer science, information technology and several new-age interdisciplinary courses.

Under the initiative in a bid to boost research and private sector investment in Delhi State universities, several corporate players, including IBM, Google, TCS, Adobe, VMWare will invest in IIIT Delhi research, along with Delhi Government.

The largest donation came from Infosys to the tune of Rs 8 crore for research at IIIT Delhi for an AI Centre with other grants from Indian research organisations like Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Electronics and Information and Technology (DeITY).

The money has come from various large technology corporations like the Infosys Foundation, Intel, Microsoft and Google as part of that is being piloted by the government at IIIT Delhi. The money raised by IIIT Delhi will be used for research in computer science, electronics and communication and information technology. As part of this scheme, the same amount will be matched by the Delhi Government to bolster research and give incentive to corporations to invest in technology research.

“For supporting research, the government has approved the Director of IIIT Delhi, Professor Pankaj Jalote’s proposal that it will provide a matching grant each year to the institute for the funds it raises from funding agencies and corporations,” said a spokesperson of the Delhi Government.

Following which many renowned corporations and technology companies as well as Indian research institutions came forward to invest in IIIT Delhi's research since they knew that their contribution would be matched by the government.

In the last year, Rs 15 crore has been raised with Rs 9.2 crore from corporate sponsors like IBM, Google, TCS, Adobe, VMWare with the biggest contribution being from Infosys Foundation.