Mumbai: The 4th Technology Innovation in Cyber-Physical Systems (TIPS) workshop was organized on 13th May at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. It is a bi-annual workshop wherein each of the 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) demonstrates the progress and achievements made. It is a platform for all the stakeholders, including the government, startups, investors, academia, and industry, to interact, exchange ideas, and witness the cutting-edge technology development in the Cyber-Physical Systems domain.

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, speaking at the inaugural ceremony, said, “The cyber-physical systems represent an area that is becoming more and more important in the increasingly pervasive digital world and will drive all sectors of our economy in the near future.” He further highlighted that “The 25 Technology Innovation Hubs are generating disruptive technologies through unique initiatives.”

The Technology Innovation Hubs are housed within premier academic institutes. Offering a flexible environment for R&D, these TIHs are dedicated to advancing technology development and translation, fostering human resource and skill development, promoting entrepreneurship and start-ups, and facilitating international collaborative research endeavors in cyber-physical systems (CPS). Stellar technologies from some of the hubs were showcased in a compendium released on the occasion. These included smart IoT solutions for monitoring crop and soil health and a smart patch for early warning and management of diabetes, from TIH of IIT Bombay; IT-OT Security Operation Center for 24x7 monitoring of cyber threats and a Blockchain Technology-based System for secure, transparent, and tamper-proof storage and management of Development Rights Certificates (DRCs) in cities, from C3i Hub of IIT Kanpur; 5G Lab and Standardization Effect Lab and Optimized Mobile Surgical Unit for Cataract Surgeries in Remote Areas from Pravartak Technologies Foundation of IIT Madras; Autonomous Vehicles – Map-based Navigation from TiHAN Foundation of IIT Hyderabad; Biodiversity Sensor and AI-powered livestock management CPS to monitor behavior of livestock, from Awadh Foundation of IIT Ropar.

The hubs learned from each other’s success stories and failures through the two-day workshop. The workshop also included an investor pitch for showcasing products and technologies to venture capitalists and angel investors for funding and a tech expo in which cutting-edge disruptive technologies developed by the hubs were displayed.

The Secretary, DST, mentioned that “This unique model to bring the industry, faculty, students, and investors in this area together can help catalyze an ecosystem of deep-tech startups. It can set the template for such hub and spoke models for successfully driving innovations in new and emerging areas and make India a world leader in the area.”

Dr. Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Mission Governing Board, NM-ICPS, underlined the need for a cultural change to create products and technologies in the institutions so that the R&D of the industries can be shifted to these institutions. Prof. Ramgopal Rao, Chairman, Scientific Advisory Committee, NM-ICPS; Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay; senior officials of the Department of Science and Technology; Technology Innovation Hub along with faculty and students of IIT Bombay; as well as venture capitalists also graced the inaugural ceremony of the two-day workshop. /BI