20th January 2009

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Professor Gerard Parr, an internationally renowned ICT expert at the University of Ulster, is to co-lead a high-profile team of UK and Indian scientists and industrial engineers in a £9.2 million research drive to ensure both nations reap the full benefits of the digital economy.

A five-year collaboration between the UK and Indian Governments, universities and ICT specialists in both countries will work to develop Next Generation Telecommunications Networks and ICT services and applications in the two countries, along with work on wireless sensor networks which could aid healthcare and early warning weather systems in rural areas.

The University of Ulster is the lead institution in a UK-India consortium of nine research-leading UK universities and five Research Institutes in India and companies in both countries which will conduct  research through a new Centre of Excellence – the India UK Advanced Technology Centre (IU-ATC) in Next Generation Networks Systems and Services.

It is being established to focus on the promotion of the Digital Economy, a priority identified under the recent UK Government Comprehensive Spending Review.

The consortium is being led by Professor Parr, Chair of Telecommunications Engineering at Ulster, Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, and Professor Nader Azarmi of BT Innovate, at Adastral Park UK.

It has been established in direct response to an invitation from both governments, and its funding forms part of a strategic intergovernmental initiative to foster closer scientific collaboration between scientists and industrial engineers.

Welcoming the funding success Professor Parr said: “Our joint India-UK team have worked extremely hard over the past two years. We have put together a consortium of international reputation and capability that will conduct leading research in telecommunications engineering and associated systems.

“Its aim is to make a step-change difference to the encouragement of value-added India-UK collaboration and to provide training opportunities for the next generation of research engineers and scientists dealing with applications, communications protocols and hardware.

“The funding will support an exciting research and innovation programme for the India-UK Advanced Technology Centre (IU-ATC) in Next Generation Networks, Systems and Services which will put in place the support infrastructure to explore solutions that will facilitate, develop, enable and protect the Digital Economy of both countries.”

The funding includes £5m jointly from the Indian Government’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Digital Economy Programme, led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which is funded by the UK Government’s Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). This is matched by a further investment  of over £4m from the consortium academic and industrial partners.

The (RCUK) Office in India and the Department of Science and Technology have worked closely together to create a joint UK-India funding mechanism to review the proposal.

Dr Venkatesh Rao Aiyagari, Head & Advisor Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC), Department of Science and Technology said: “I am delighted that the DST and EPSRC have come together to undertake such a  major project and have been able to review and support this joint initiative, which is directly in line with the  policies and priorities of DST, and I wish the  consortium every success in the future.”

Dr Alicia Greated, Director of the RCUK Office in India, said: “We are extremely pleased that this initiative has been funded. It is an excellent example of India-UK research collaborations being developed across both the private and public sectors and engages the very best of researchers from both nations. We are confident that the strength of this partnership will result in outcomes that will have impact for society, technology and the economy in both India and the UK.”

The IU-ATC was recently highlighted in an open letter by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, at the launch of the RCUK office at the British High Commission in Delhi.

The other UK universities in the consortium are Surrey, University College London, Southampton, Bristol, St Andrews, Lancaster, Cambridge and Queen Mary. The Indian Research Institutes taking part are Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, IISc Bangalore and IIT Madras, which is the lead Indian institute. A number of SMEs are also involved.

Professor Parr said: “On behalf of our entire consortium, I am delighted with the encouragement and support I have received from academic partners and the support our team has received from leading industry and the governments of both countries. In particular I welcome the important strategic support we have received from Professor Nader Azarmi of BT Innovate in the UK”

Professor Azarmi said: “Given India’s special requirements, a fundamental rethink is required to adapt or explore novel solutions and provide for research, innovation and wealth creation opportunities between the UK and India and it is very pleasing that we have created one of the most visible and talked about Indian/UK collaborative Research and Innovation programmes.”

A number of key technical and social challenges will be explored through scientific investigation of the technical and functional requirements of Next Generation Networks through the promotion of industry collaboration with research-leading academic institutions and government departments.

These form part of the initial 30-month Phase 1 of an overall five-year joint programme between the UK and India. Plans for the second phase of funding will be made at the two-year stage. 

The lead academic in India Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras, and Scientific Advisor to the Indian Prime Minister, said: “With the creation of the IU-ATC, Indian research scientists and PhD students can now collaborate in a global, virtual platform to share innovative research concepts among an elite grouping of UK and Indian academic institutions.

“The global connectivity of this virtual consortium and its links to global industrial partners will ensure the rapid transfer of ideas and technology with the aim of creating breakthroughs in NGN and future Internet research.”

The IU-ATC will provide an internationally leading resource of expertise and infrastructure to develop, at low financial risk and exposure, the research capacity of indigenous Indian companies in the ICT Engineering and Software sector. 

Professor Bryan Scotney, the Director of the Computer Science Research Institute at Ulster, said: “This is a major international research initiative for Ulster to be leading. Coming on the back of outstanding results for Computer Science at Ulster, and indeed for all of the consortium partners, in the recent Research Assessment Exercise, the IU-ATC provides an excellent platform to achieve real impact from our internationally-leading reputation for excellence and that of our partners.”

The IU-ATC will also play a leading role in establishing competitive technology and knowledge transfer policies between the UK and India in the domain of Next Generation Internet over the next 10 years.  

For further information, please contact:

Martin Cowley
Telephone: 028 71675083
Email: Martin Cowley