MIT in pact with Satyam Computer
V. Rishi Kumar
HYDERABAD, Feb. 15 THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), through its Industrial Liaison Programme (ILP), has entered into a collaborative arrangement with Satyam Computer Services Ltd to address the area of emerging technologies, with specific focus on mobile Internet computing.
The institute expects mobile computing will be the next wave, providing tremendous business opportunities. Mr. Kei-Yeung Siu, Director of Automatic Identification Research Centre Laboratory of Information Technology Systems and Technology and Associate Professor at MIT, Cambridge, along with his team, spoke to Business Line about the ILP and how MIT, a pioneer in such initiatives, has built relationships creating a fertile ground for the development of technology.
Ms. Rachel Oberoi-Solitz, Manager, Corporate Relations, MIT, said this relationship, from MIT's point of view, provides Satyam information services knowledge that will help it deploy technology in achieving business objectives. "We do this through interactions in areas which we have identified with mutual interests which involve contracts, information exchange etc. The Centre, which Satyam has created, is part of this relationship,' Ms. Solitz said.
"One area which we are specifically looking at is mobile computing. Of specific research interest is the infrastructure technology of the Internet. The focus area will be on building optical networking technology, telecom network management, traffic engineering and mobile Internet computing. There will be a great business opportunity in providing technology for such applications as also products," Mr. Siu said.
"Through this programme, we are building relationships by which something can be achieved. We have a proven model for industry collaboration. A study has revealed that MIT helped develop technology and products worth $350 billion," Mr. Sanjay Sarma of MIT said. "We are looking at possible areas where we can create some new opportunities and are looking at the supply chain area. The Internet is exploding business and everyone in the supply chain is looking at newer ways to reach out," Dr. Balaji of Satyam Centre said. "There are a lot more mobile phone users than Internet users in the US. We see a situation where mobile users will merge with Internet users. Mobile phones can actually access the Internet through wireless application protocol (WAP). We need to look at addressing this huge market," Mr. Siu said. "The other project which we are actively working on is the Auto ID Centre. The centre enables radio frequencies to tag on to physical items which can be interrogated. Thus, one can make out what a particular item is from a distance. The same logic can be extended to supply chain management," Mr. Sarma said. "Media delivery, Web caching etc, that is looking beyond e-commerce, will become the new focus areas. We are working on technologies that are many years ahead of time. And streaming media is just one such technology application," Mr. Sarma said. Mr. Sarma said the Auto ID centre had been initially sponsored by P&G, Gillette, UCC and MIT. The new lab is under way at MIT and the mission is to merge "bits and atoms."
-Business Line via IciciDirect |
