To focus on research-led social solutions for smart and sustainable communities by leveraging IIITH's Smart City Living Lab and Plaksha's energy and environment initiatives

HYDERABAD, India, March 29, 2024 -- IIIT Hyderabad and Plaksha University signed an MoU on campus today to establish a Sustainability Centre based on Smart and Sustainable Communities. The MoU was jointly signed by Prof P J Narayanan, Director, IIIT Hyderabad and Prof Rudra Pratap, Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University.

The Sustainability Center will primarily focus on research for bottom of the pyramid use cases around villages and towns. IIITH and Plaksha University will jointly work on technologies applicable to sustainable communities including sensors, ML models, communication/5g, digital twins, economics, social/human sciences.

It will also take up problems in functional domains like air/pollution, water (networks, wtp, stp, rain), energy (smart meters, distribution, grids, storage), waste management (solid water and otherwise), food/agriculture (sustainably produce, process, consume), health (preventive and public health and mental health). The immediate short-term plan is to seed projects in Hyderabad and Chandigarh around water, pollution and agri-economics.

Prof P J Narayanan, Director of IIITH said, "IIITH is excited to partner with Plaksha University on joint research initiatives spanning sustainability and the development of sustainable communities. Since both our institutions largely share institutional frameworks and social goals, this collaborative center will work on impactful research, educational programs, and community involvement, leveraging our combined strengths."

Prof. Rudra Pratap, Founding Vice Chancellor Plaksha University said, "In this era of rapid technological advancement, our collaboration with IIIT Hyderabad marks a pivotal moment in our journey towards fostering sustainable communities. Through the joint efforts of Plaksha University and IIITH, we aspire to harness cutting-edge technologies to address the pressing challenges faced by communities at the bottom of the pyramid, ensuring a brighter and more equitable future for all."

About IIIT-Hyderabad: The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) is an autonomous research university founded in 1998 that focuses on the core areas of Information Technology, such as Computer Science, Electronics and Communications, and their applications in other domains through inter-disciplinary research that has a greater social impact. Some of its research domains include Visual Information Technologies, Human Language Technologies, Data Engineering, VLSI and Embedded Systems, Computer Architecture, Wireless Communications, Algorithms and Information Security, Robotics, Building Science, Earthquake Engineering, Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Education Technologies, Power Systems, IT in Agriculture and e-Governance.

Website: www.iiit.ac.in

About Plaksha University:

Founded by a global community of more than 100 technology and business leaders, Plaksha envisions to reimagine technology education and research for India and the world. With strong partnerships with UC Berkeley, Purdue, UC San Diego, IIT Kanpur, and IISc Bengaluru, Plaksha aims to nurture and empower a generation of catalytic leaders and create an ecosystem of research and innovation. The university collapses the traditional boundaries of engineering and promotes interdisciplinary learning by combining technology, design and entrepreneurship.

Plaksha is guided by an eminent academic board including Dr. Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering, University of Pennsylvania; Venkatesh Narayanamurthi, former Dean of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Sriram Rajamani, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India; Julia Ross, Dean of Engineering, Virginia Tech;  Krishna Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Sanjay Sarma, Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT; and business leaders such as Neeraj Aggarwal, Chairman – Asia Pacific, BCG; Hitesh Oberoi, Co-promoter & CEO, Info Edge (Naukri.com); Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder, Fractal Analytics; Manas Fuloria, Co- Founder, Nagarro; Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Navin Chaddha, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund; Sujeet Kumar, Co-founder, Udaan.com; Dalip Pathak, Special Limited Partner, Warburg Pincus LLC; CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra; Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, Clix Capital among others. Corporate donors include companies like Bharti Foundation, Havells, HT Parekh Foundation, Mphasis, Axis Bank and Motilal Oswal. The global community of business leaders who founded Plaksha can be seen here. 

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