Hyderabad: IIIT Hyderabad and Plaksha University signed an MoU on campus on Thursday to establish a Sustainability Centre based on Smart and Sustainable Communities. The MoU was jointly signed by Prof P J Narayanan, Director, IIIT Hyderabad and Prof Rudra Pratap, Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University.

The Sustainability Center will primarily focus on research for bottom-of-the-pyramid use cases around villages and towns. IIITH and Plaksha University will jointly work on technologies applicable to sustainable communities including sensors, ML models, communication/5g, digital twins, economics, and social/human sciences.

It will also take up problems in functional domains like air/pollution, water (networks, wtp, stp, rain), energy (smart meters, distribution, grids, storage), waste management (solid water and otherwise), food/agriculture (sustainably produce, process, consume), health (preventive and public health and mental health). The immediate short-term plan is to seed projects in Hyderabad and Chandigarh around water, pollution and agri-economics.

Prof P J Narayanan, Director of IIITH said, “IIITH is excited to partner with Plaksha University on joint research initiatives spanning sustainability and the development of sustainable communities. Since our institutions largely share institutional frameworks and social goals, this collaborative centre will work on impactful research, educational programs, and community involvement, leveraging our combined strengths”.