Odisha Signs MoU With University Of California To Enhance Research Ecosystem

Palo Alto/Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has signed an MoU with the University of California, Berkeley in research, impact assessment of schemes, entrepreneurship and exchange of academic publication.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during the visit of high-level delegation from Odisha to the university.

As per the pact, Odisha government and the university will collaborate on research projects and jointly organise conferences and workshops. Special emphasis will be on joint training workshops in high-tech areas and approximately 1,000 researchers are likely to be trained.

In the first phase, pilot projects will be launched in Disaster Management and Climate Control, Healthcare, Fintech, and Agriculture. Partnerships in emerging-tech areas including Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and generative AI within the governance system will bring more transformation in public delivery mechanism.

Collaboration on joint initiatives such as student exchange programs, start-up exchange programs, and start-up acceleration programs is also expected in the coming days.

Speaking on the occasion, Tusharkanti Behera, Minister of Electronics and IT said, “I foresee innumerable areas of cooperation, knowledge sharing, collaboration and research in our journey together in the coming year which would create immense goodwill and produce benefits for both the societies.”

Development Commissioner Anu Garg said, “This partnership that entails collaboration in wide-ranging areas will provide a significant stimulus to Odisha’s research and development ecosystem and catalyse its progress.”

5T secretary VK Pandian outlined various ways in which this MoU will further help Odisha’s transformational journey.

The delegation also met David Frigstad, Chairman of Frost and Sullivan, a global consulting and advisory firm. The company submitted a Letter of Intent (LoI) to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bhubaneswar.

The CoE will help create a growth-oriented environment for investors, entrepreneurs, academicians, and students in partnership with industries. The firm will also facilitate training programmes in technological areas for over 50,000 youths in remote locations and villages.

Representatives of Amazon, Apple, Stanford University, Eficens, Unision Capital, Iron Pillar were also present during the meeting.

The Odisha delegates held a meeting with Yusuf Jamal, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Skyworks Solutions Inc. With the company looking for its first investment in India, the delegation briefed him on Odisha’s Semiconductor Manufacturing and Fabless Policy 2023.