The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the launching of National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems to be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology at a total cost of Rs 3,660 crore for a period of five years, a statement said.
The mission aims at establishment of 15 numbers of Technology Innovation Hubs, six numbers of Application Innovation Hubs and four numbers of Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP).
These hubs and TTRPs will connect to academics, industry, central ministries and state government in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and other organisations across the country in a hub and spoke model.
The mission implementation would develop and bring Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and associated technologies within reach in the country, produce next generation skilled manpower in CPS, catalyse translational research, accelerate entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystem development in CPS, the statement added.
The project is also aimed to give impetus to advanced research in CPS, technology development and higher education in science, technology and engineering disciplines, and place India at par with other advanced countries and derive several direct and indirect benefits.
The NM-ICPS is a pan India mission and covers entire gamut of the country that includes central ministries, state governments, industry and academia.
"CPSand its associated technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Machine Learning,Deep Learning,Big Data Analytics,Robotics, Quantum Computing, Quantum Communication, Quantum encryption (Quantum Key Distribution), Data Science & Predictive analytics, Cyber Security for physical infrastructure and other infrastructure, have pervaded and is playing a transformative role in almost every field of human endeavour all most in all sectors.
"It has become imperative for government and industries to be prepared to adopt these emerging and disruptive technologies in order to remain competitive, drive societal progress, generate employment, foster economic growth and to improve the overall quality of life and sustainability of the environment," a statement said.
The Cabinet was also apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding between India and the US concerning Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Earth Sciences. The MoU was signed on November 1 this year.
The collaboration between India and the US will enable sharing of the expertise available with organisations in both countries, and adoption of the latest state-of-the-art technology in the field of earth science.
Specific areas of cooperation include ecosystems, climate variability and land-use changes, energy, minerals, environmental health, natural hazards, risk and resilience of assessments, water resources, and informatics and data integration.
The cooperation under this MoU is envisaged through various modes like exchange of technical information, visits, training and cooperative research consistent with on-going programmes of both countries in the above fields.
The Cabinet was also apprised of MoU between India and Russia on Joint Activities under Human Spaceflight Programme.
The MoU will strengthen the cooperation between India and Russia and would provide impetus to develop the technologies and advanced systems required for the human space flight programme like radiation shielding, life support systems, crew module, rendezvous and docking systems, space suit, training for astronauts.
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