Meta pledges $1 mn for extended reality fellowship programme in India

Initiative will help developers contribute to open-source projects on XR technology and lay the foundation for affordable, appropriate India-specific solutions localised to Indic languages

Meta on Tuesday announced a partnership with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) for the XR Open Source (XROS) fellowship programme, and pledged $1 million to support 100 Indian developers working on extended reality (XR).

The initiative will help developers contribute to open-source projects related to XR technology and lay the foundation for affordable, appropriate India-specific solutions localised to Indic languages.

“Some research that we commissioned from an independent think tank suggests that by 2031, the metaverse economy could be worth about 4.6 per cent of India’s GDP,” said Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta.

Clegg said short-form videos account for about 40 per cent of the content on Facebook. He added that the transition from text to long-form videos and from long-form videos to short-form videos is evidence of the rise of formats that are ever more immersive.

“The metaverse won’t be built by one company alone. Through programmes like XR Open Source, we will support Indian developers working on these exciting technologies. With their talent, insight, and effort, we hope to ensure that the next generation of internet technologies are built in an open, collaborative, and accessible way,” the top executive said.

Run by Ficci, XROS will support 100 Indian developers working on XR technologies by offering them fellowships that include stipend and mentoring. The XR Open Source programme is the second in India through which Meta aims to boost the developer ecosystem around immersive technologies and further the open ecosystem for building the metaverse.

Last year Meta partnered with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to bring immersive technologies to over 10 million students and one million educators over three years.

XROS is part of Meta’s global XR Programs and research fund under which the firm announced a $2 million fund for the XR Startup Program with the MeitY Startup Hub earlier this year. XROS also aims to provide developers with resources to create digital public goods and generate job opportunities in the field of XR technologies.

The National e-Governance Division, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), will be the technical partner for the new fellowship programme.

Devin Narang, Ficci Committee Member and Country Head-India, Sindicatum Renewable Energy, said, “The XROS Fellowship Programme is a uniquely curated initiative aimed at supporting Indian developers to make significant contributions to open source projects related to extended reality (XR) technology. The programme will provide the necessary impetus towards fueling the growth of investments in future technologies in line with the government's vision for making India a trillion-dollar economy by 2025.”