ISA pact with Canadian corporation

Canada/ Global interest converges on Bangalore as IT gives the focus

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA), a new national level platform to promote the Indian semiconductor industry, has signed a strategic MoU between with CMC (Canadian Microelectronics Corporation) to proactively collaborate to further the interests of the semiconductor ecosystems in both the countries.

The MoU, first of its kind in the region is on the lines of the multi-country co-operation program, which has made Korea and Taiwan quite successful.

Recognising ISA and commenting on the MoU, Brian Barge, president & CEO, Canadian Microelectronics Corporation said: "The kind of leadership and talent available in India is tremendous and to top it, there are huge similarities between Ottawa and Bangalore, in terms of the technology sector and the talent available. The need really is for a fourth pillar which would bring the government, academia and the industry onto a common platform and catalyse the Indian semiconductor industry's leap into the next level of growth. We would proactively and fully share with ISA our model and learnings. We are also discussing joint collaboration on select research projects so that we can tap into the expertise in both the countries."

Rajendra Khare, MD, Broadcom India and Chairman ISA, commenting on the MoU said: "Though talent generation and close academia-industry collaboration have been talked about often, at ISA we look at it differently. The challenge is not really the number of engineers. But how many of the graduating students are worldclass and can quickly ramp up to be industry-ready and whether industry-relevant research projects are undertaken in our educational institutions. It is this that needs to be addressed and we have already taken the first step in getting several of the country's leading academic personalities involved in the ISA."