Union Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar launched the "Digital India FutureLABS" and delivered the keynote address at the 'Digital India FutureLABS Summit 2024,' focused on 'Catalyzing the Next-generation Electronics System Design through Digital India FutureLABS.'

The Summit also witnessed an announcement of 22 MoUs of C-DAC with Industry for implementation of the futureLABS.

Companies like NXP Semiconductors, Tenstorrent and Qualcomm India have signed MoUs in areas like High Performance Computing space, Design & Innovation in Compute space and Indian Telecom Stack.

Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar addressed the summit that included senior leadership of major industry players, startups, young Indians and academia from the electronics manufacturing field.

"So over the last ten years, India's journey has transformed from being a consumer of technologies and a provider of talent for large technology companies worldwide to becoming a country where talent is certainly available. We continue to support global companies and enterprises with our talent, while also taking the lead in developing technologies, intellectual properties, and solutions for ourselves and the world," he said.

"India's tech and innovation ecosystem is expanding and growing while catalyzing the next wave of startups in AI to Semiconductors, Electronics System Design and Innovation starting at Digital India futureLABS. The Digital India futureLABS is the final piece in architecture for innovation being built by PM Narendra Modi ji since the Digital India programme in 2015. It represents an opportunity for Indian startups at the forefront of developing NextGen Electronics in Automotive, Compute, Telecom, Industrial and Strategic Electronics. Digital India futureLABS will act as a catalyst for this and in rounding off our ambitions of ensuring the Indian flag on every segment of emerging tech innovation," he added.

The Minister also said, "What we expect from the FutureLabs is what emerged from AT&T's Bell Labs and other laboratories in Albany, such as nanotech. These high-performance systems will be globally competitive, affordable, low-cost and trusted. Openness, safety, and trust are principles we want to build broadly into our digital ecosystem."

The Digital India FutureLABS, coordinated by C-DAC, aims to tap into the trillion-dollar opportunity presented by the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector. The initiative seeks to move up the value chain, fortify domestic R&D, and create a collaborative ecosystem for the development of IPs, standards, and the next-generation Electronics System Design in the country, Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a statement.