Tech advancement a core building block to become developed nation: Vaishnaw

Vaishnaw launched one VEGA-based SoC ASIC and two DIR V VEGA processor based development boards designed and developed by C-DAC at the event held in Pune

Computing and technological advancement is a core building block for India to become a developed nation by 2047, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said here on Saturday.

The minister also said C-DAC plays a major role in this regard. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier organisation of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for carrying our research and development in IT, electronics and associated areas.  Vaishnaw launched one VEGA-based SoC ASIC and two DIR V VEGA processor based development boards designed and developed by C-DAC at the event held here. These are the ARIES ECO and ARIES NOVA development boards and THEJAS64 Indigenous 64-bit SoC, a release said.  "ARIES ECO is useful for students, providing a hands-on platform for experimenting with applications like sensor fusion, smart meters, and wearable devices. It offers an easily accessible platform for education, research, and development in the rapidly evolving field of embedded systems," it said. The THEJAS64 is the first fully indigenous 64-bit VEGA based System-on-Chip (SoC) designed for robust and secure embedded applications, the release added.  "Computing and technological development is a core building block for India to become a developed country by 2047, and C-DAC plays a major role in it. A lot of research work in the field of semi-conductors and computing is happening in academic institutions like IIT Madras, IISc Bengaluru, IIT Gandhinagar, among others," Vaishnaw said.  "There are around 240 institutions across the country today with very advanced tools used in designing semi conductor chips. C-DAC works as a fulcrum of this entire programme by monitoring, enabling and purchasing licenses of these research tools. In a review meeting it was discussed as to how to bring together all research for a consolidated and harmonized way of working," the Union minister said.  He said students engaged with research programmes, who used to earlier learn about semi-conductors only from textbooks, are now getting access to advanced tools, and are able to try out their ideas and develop product concepts. "These students working with semi conductor design tools are becoming ready to be absorbed in the semi-conductor industry. They also gather the inner strength to develop a start up and the capability to actually design computer chips," Vaishnaw added.  C-DAC will run a challenge competition for students who have learned to use semi-conductor design tools, followed by connecting them with the best in the industry, he said. C-DAC will also start a certification course for these students, the minister added.