On April 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to bring the foundation stone for the nation’s first Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Known to be the 3rd generation in science parks, it will be located in the Digital University of Kerala at Technopark Phase IV- Technocity, a government release said. The project was released with an expected completion of two years, along with an outlay of Rs 1,500 Crore.
An agreement was signed between Digital University Kerala and UK based semiconductor- software design company ARM for research, academic, and startup related activities. This signifies an influx of technology start-ups in a domain like AI, robotics, electronics, smart hardware, and sustainable/smart materials. The first two buildings are expected to have a total area coverage of 2,00,000 square feet, with five floors in the first section and admin offices in the second.
The release also said the initial operational space for the park will be on 10,000 sq ft of Kabani at Technopark. This will be complemented with Rs 200 Crore in budget initially proposed by the Kerala state government, and the rest to be generated from other sources like industry partners. In addition to unveiling the Digital Science Park during the visit to Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be dedicating the country’s first Water Metro and flagging off the first Vande Bharat Express Train. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, various ministers of the Left government and Shashi Tharoor (MP of Thiruvananthapuram) will be present during the ceremony.
ARM is a multinational technology company specialized in processor design and semiconductor IP licensing. The company also has a network of Artificial Intelligence operations, with recent partnerships made with NVIDIA. ARM has a 33% stake in the AI market, maintained by supplying processing cores, GPU (Graphics Processing Units) and other related components. It is considered to be amongst the ‘big three’ in the industry, with the other two being Intel and NVIDIA. The company’s products have their uses in the likes of technology giant Apple, Qualcomm, AMD and Huawei.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is considered a major proponent of unlocking India’s technological potential through investment in new curriculums and infrastructure, is bringing India’s first Digital Science Park project to life. This will potentially be a massive boon for the nation’s education and technical sector, enabling the growth and advancement of many startups and budding minds.
