Govt inks MoU with SSIR to set up 'IoT Innovation Lab' in 35 polytechnics including Mangaluru, Udupi

Karnataka Department of Collegiate and Technical Education and Samsung Semiconductor India Research (SSIR) inked an MoU on Thursday, February 9, to set up 'Industrial Internet of Things Labs' (IoT Innovation Labs) in 35 government polytechnics across the State.

The project costing Rs 1.52 crore also includes setting up of AI labs in at least two institutions.

The MoU was signed in presence of Minister for IT/BT C N Ashwath Narayan at Vikasa Souda by P Pradeep, Commissioner, DCTE and Balajee Sowrirajan, Vice-President and MD Samsung semiconductor India Research.

"Samsung India, through the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India has piloted the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) offering online coursework aligned to the C20 Curriculum Internet of Things (IoT). The SIC coursework has been mapped with our C20 curriculum so that it helps students thoroughly learn all the foundation concepts in IoT," Narayan said.

As of now, setting up of AI labs in two colleges has been confirmed. However, DCTE has asked to establish AI labs in at least 15 institutions.

The labs will be housed in Government Polytechnics at Aurad, Bagepalli, Bengaluru, Belagavi, Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Devadurga, Hangal, Harihara, Jalaki, Joida, Kalaburagi, Kalagi, Kampli, Koppal, Lingasugur, Mangaluru, Masale Hosahalli, Mundagod, Mysuru, Raichur, Ramanagara, Shiralakoppa, Shivamogga, Siddapura, Srirangapatna, Surapura, Udupi and Vijayapura.

According to officials, the hands-on experiment opportunities along with the online learning resources and a library of capstone project statement is expected to help students get industry training at Polytechnics as well as get industry credentials through certifications ensuring they are job-ready.

The "IoT Innovation Lab" would help foster innovations in solving local problems using IoT, they said, these labs will also be available for students at nearby Government Institutions to be used, especially for who are in Engineering and First Grade Colleges.

These labs include tools and technologies that can be applied for various STEM experiments including Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (Drones), Automobile, Bio-Medical, AgriTech, BioTech, and other potential STEM applications. Students will also have opportunities to experiment and learn hands-on servicing of mobile phone, used as tools in IoT projects.