C-DAC to expand operations

Express buzz
July 15, 2011

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will soon expand its operations to a new Technopark facility, C-DAC executive director R Ravindra Kumar said here on Thursday. C-DAC’s new facility will be operational within six months and will be housed in a building with 160,000 sq ft built-up area.

The building has been designed on the green building concept and will have state-of-the-art infrastructure required for carrying out research and development activities in emerging strategic and industrial high technology areas, Ravindra Kumar said, while apprising Shashi Tharoor MP, of the C-DAC’s plans for the immediate future.

Shashi Tharoor, who visited C-DAC on Thursday and addressed the employees, stressed the need for affordable technologies. He urged C-DAC scientists and engineers to work towards developing innovative and affordable technologies that will help India grow as a major power in the research and development sector. The R&D sector in the country is growing by leaps and bounds, he said, advising technologists to focus on quality, since the cost advantage is not everlasting.

Calling C-DAC a jewel in his constituency, Tharoor said the present-day technologists are not the ones who live in laboratories isolated from the real world. They are well aware of the issues affecting the common man and are devising, deploying and improving solutions which suit Indian conditions, he said.

India’s R&D capability is being recognised the world over; the best example for this is the fact that global majors such as Philips, General Electric and perhaps IBM have more R&D personnel employed in India than elsewhere, he said.

India is extremely well-placed to be in high demand in R&D, but it is essential that R&D organisations here should move away from any model of cost efficiency and build their organisation on outstanding quality and quality of service.

Citing the example of mobile phone revolution in India, he said ICT has empowered ordinary people which will pave the way for future innovations.