Union Minister Inaugurates India’s First FutureLABS Centre in C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram

March 13, 2024

GS Paper III Science and Technology

Context

Recently, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship inaugurated India’s first FutureLABS centre in C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Inaugurates India’s 1st FutureLABS Centre at C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram

This FutureLABS Centre will be named the Centre for Semiconductor Chips & Systems for Strategic Electronics.

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC):

About: It is the premier research and development organisation for R&D in IT, electronics, and other areas Established in the Year 1988.
Parent Ministry: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
Objective: It was set up to build supercomputers in the context of the denial of the importation of supercomputers by the USA.
Since then C-DAC has been building multiple generations of supercomputers starting from PARAM with 1 GF in 1988.
Headquarters of CDAC: Pune
Other Centers: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai, Noida, Patna, Silchar, Thiruvananthapuram.
Notable Contribution: C-DAC built India’s first indigenously built supercomputer, Param 8000 in 1991.

About the Centre for Semiconductor Chips & Systems for Strategic Electronics

Chip Manufacturing Ecosystem: It will catalyse an ecosystem for next-generation chip design, manufacturing, and research.
Strengthen the R&D Ecosystem: It will help to strengthen domestic research and development (R&D) and innovation in automotive, computing, communication, strategic electronics, industrial electronics, and internet-of-things.
Significance:
- Automotive sector: Focus on R&D and industry-government collaboration to develop electric vehicles, onboard sensors, and autonomous connected devices.
- Information and Technology Sector: Focus on R&D in high-performance, quantum, and exascale computers, indigenous microprocessors, accelerators, and blockchain, among others.

Also Read: India’s First Semiconductor Fabrication Plant

News Source: PIB

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