Infosys, Australian entity in R&D joint venture

Infosys Technologies has signed an agreement with Smart Internet Technology Cooperative Research Centre (Smart Internet), a joint venture between industry, leading universities and the Commonwealth and state governments of Australia, for joint efforts in research & development.

Infosys will invest up to Australian $800,000 for R&D over the next four years.

According to a press release, the collaboration between Infosys and Smart Internet will help both the companies.

While Smart Internet will stand to gain from the development, commercialisation and export of Australian intellectual property. On the other hand, it will give Infosys an opportunity to explore new ways of generating market-driving intellectual property and further augment its competitive positioning.

The collaboration is expected to provide commercial benefits to the Commonwealth Government and state governments of Australia in the form of new employment and revenue opportunities.

An exchange of knowledge and skills will also benefit Australian researchers who will have the unique opportunity to work with the Infosys on collaborative R&D projects, adds the release.

At a reception at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce in New Delhi, recently, NSW Premier, Bob Carr witnessed the signing of the variation agreement between Neville Roach, chairman of Smart Internet CRC, and Narayana N R Murthy, chairman of the Board and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies.

Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr stated in the release "We've just witnessed the signing of an agreement sealing the first major investment by an Indian IT company in an Australian research organisation, Smart Internet Technology CRC.

This agreement reflects the type of cooperation between the Indian software industry and Australian high-end research where the greatest opportunities for mutual benefit lie - and it's exactly the sort of development that brings us here to India."

Smart Internet's objective is to build global relationships in order to penetrate the international market. Smart Internet's Indian partnership with Infosys will result in opportunities for growth, by leveraging Infosys' global network and knowledge base.

Funding provided by Infosys will also assist Smart Internet support Australian PhD students and train young researchers for roles within Smart Internet's partner organisations.

Infosys Australia chief executive officer (CEO) Gary Ebeyansaid in the release, "Together Infosys and Smart Internet will create a collaborative environment to exploit market potentials. Infosys and Smart Internet have a great deal to offer each other and with India's growing position as an economic giant in the global community, the two companies have a great opportunity to work together. This investment is another excellent example of Infosys commitment to the development of the local ICT industry"

The initial focus areas of this collaborative effort will be banking, commerce, health and entertainment industry segments. Smart Internet will work directly with the Software Engineering and Technology Labs (SETLabs) of Infosys in Bangalore, for research in mobility, pervasive computing, agent technologies, security and digital rights management.

Infosys will provide key skills and insights to support Smart Internet's research and commercial objectives.