STPI to open 28 CoEs in emerging tech at Rs 400 crore

The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is in the process of opening 28 centres of excellence (CoE) in emerging technologies at an investment of over Rs 400 crore, its director-general Omkar Rai said on Wednesday.

Five CoEs are already functioning and all 28 of them would be operational in two years, he said in an address to the 15th India Innovation Summit 2019 organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry, said a press release.

Emerging technologies such as AI, IOT, medical electronics, IOT in agriculture and automotive electronics would be the focus of the CoEs, the release quoted him as saying.

He said Indias IT services industry currently stands at USD 177 billion with exports amounting to USD 136 billion.

"It is the intention of the government of India to transform the country from an IT services industry to a product nation," Rai said.

The National Software Product Policy 2019 approved by the Union Cabinet aims to capitalise on the strength of Indias IT industry in order to make the country a software product nation, according to him.

Currently, the global software product industry stands at USD 511 billion out of which Indias share is USD 8.1 billion.

The objective is to take this share of India to USD 80-90 billion by 2025, the release quoted him as saying.

Additional chief secretary, department of IT, BT and S&T, government of Karnataka, B V Ramana Reddy said his department was in the process of drafting a new policy on innovation and technology with the view to addressing new-age challenges in regulation for innovation.

"We are considering innovative concepts such as regulatory sandboxes to ensure that adequate legal framework for innovation is available," Reddy said.