STPI to build 28 Centres of Excellence across India

PUNE: Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) will build 28 Centres of Excellence across the country in emerging areas like Internet Of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud, augmented reality, virtual reality and blockchain, said Sanjay Gupta, Director of STPI at Bharatiyam 19, the annual national level tech-fest of Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) College of Engineering BV(DU)CoE.

Gupta stated that although, India is a $167 billion IT industry, its contribution to the product industry is mere $7.1 billion, which needs to be increased drastically. 

“In this direction, the Government of India has launched a national policy towards software products which aims to boost software products in the country. This software product policy will create 3.5 million jobs and boost the software product revenue from $7.1 billion to $80 billion by 2025,” said Gupta who is also administrative and technical head of STPI for Maharashtra and Goa.

These centres will work in collaboration with the stakeholders of state governments, academia, industry and industry mentorship to provide a platform to startups and budding entrepreneurs to perform their business.

Under the umbrella of Bharatiyam 19, various technical events at all departments of BV(DU)CoE, were also inaugurated by eminent experts from industry and academia. The events included, Bharatiyam Hackathon, wherein participating groups have to ideate a solution to real time problems within 48 hours; Proyecto, is a national level project exhibition where students present and demonstrate models from various technical fields; Paper presentation symposium to present ideations and propose research in the form of posters and papers; technical and science quiz in association with IEEE students branch of BV(DU)COE and panel discussions by the MHRD-AICTE’s Institute’s Innovation Council of BV(DU)CoE.

“There is a need to make students ready for the industry as per the requirements of the industry and these hackathons act as the best interface between academia and the industry. Hackathons are the unique initiative to identify new and disruptive innovations while solving problems and provide a platform for young graduate students to develop entrepreneurship and allow them to think out of the box,” he said.