MeitY Secretary launches India's First Graphene Centre, IoT CoE in Kerala

MeitY Secretary S Krishnan on Wednesday launched a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Intelligent Internet of Things (IIoT) Sensors and India’s first graphene centre - India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) in Kerala.

"The CoE in IIoT Sensors is a unique facility established at Makers Village Kochi by MeitY, Government of India and Government of Kerala to catalyse the development of sensors within the realm of Intelligent IoT systems covering a broad spectrum of applications of intelligent sensors in networks, devices and sensor systems," said the ministry in a press release.

Further, the India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) has also been established at Makers Village Kochi by MeitY and Government of Kerala along with Tata Steel Limited, the ministry informed.

Digital University Kerala (DUK) (formerly IIITMK) and Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (CMET), Thrissur are the technical partners for setting up these centres.

"The complete full-fledged facility for R&D, incubation, innovation, skilling, capacity building, testing and certification shall be established at these centres by the experts of these agencies," read the release.

Secretary Krishnan also unveiled Hardtech 2024 - Makers Village's premier annual program on the occasion.

This program aims to unite key figures from industries, startups, investors, academia, and R&D organisations involved in electronics hardware design and manufacturing, said the release.

The secretary also addressed the gathering on the occasion, highlighting the importance of IIoT sensors and Graphene technologies in driving digital transformation and economic growth.

He said that the creation of a complete ecosystem for startups in the area of IoT sensors and graphene & 2D materials is the main objective for setting up these centres in the country, according to the official press release from MeitY.