Intel launches Intel Unnati Program to set up 100 data centric labs in 1 yr

Intel today announced the launch of the Intel Unnati Program to help equip engineering students in India with industry-relevant data-centric skills. The chipmaker said that it plans to setup 100 Intel Unnati Data Centric Labs over the course of next year.

The idea is to bring academia and industry together to address skills gap in the new age technologies. Focused on technology inclusion, the Intel Unnati Program strives to broaden access to technology infrastructure for educational institutions across all tiers.

Institutions will have a choice of lab variants to suit their budgets and based on where they stand in their technology and infrastructure journey. Each Intel Unnati lab includes hardware and software stack recommendations from Intel, course content and co-branded course completion certificates for students. Currently, labs are available for artificial intelligence (AI), FPGA solutions and AI Internet of Things (AIIoT), with multiple other technologies in the pipeline including smart mobility and security.

When asked what differentiates Unnati from several programmes being run collaboratively with academia and the industry, Nivruti Rai, country head Intel India and VP of Intel Foundry Services said: “These labs would be places where students get access to cutting edge tech like IoT set ups, server setup, multiple funnels of data coming in etc. This will enable leading edge R&D capability to students within their university premises, they do not have to wait to graduate and then join a company like Intel and then get access to such compute capabilities.”

The Intel Unnati Program has been piloted across 15 colleges that are in the process of setting up Centres of Excellence on their campuses. The labs are already operational in 3 institutes including Galgotias University – Uttar Pradesh, OPJU – Chattisgarh, and Vinayaka Mission – Tamil Nadu. Other colleges that are part of the pilot include IIIT Dharwad – Karnataka, Amrita University – Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-AP, Yeswant Rao Chavan Engineering College – Maharashtra, T John Engineering College – Karnataka, Marwadi University – Gujarat, SRM University – Tamil Nadu, Hindustan University - Tamil Nadu, LPU – Punjab, COE, Roorkee – Uttarakhand, Parul University – Gujarat, and Kumaraguru College – Tamil Nadu.

Program implementation is supported by a network of system integrators across India who can customize the lab configuration to suit each institution’s requirements, train the faculty on course content, and provide ongoing maintenance support. The emphasis is on hands-on experiences that build confidence among students in the use of hardware and software toolkits.

Making technology inclusive and expanding digital readiness is a key component of Intel’s RISE strategy and critical to the company’s corporate purpose. Intel has committed to expanding digital readiness to reach 30 million people in 30,000 institutions in 30 countries by 2030.