India is an emerging global player in the Information Technology sector and has grown steadily since the 1990s, and the requirement for manpower also increased. Education and information technology training are important prerequisites for the purpose of expanding the manpower for various sectors of the knowledge economy. To address the challenges faced by the Indian Industry, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India made a scheme to establish the Indian Institute of Information Technology across India. Started with four IIITs directly under MHRD in 1997 and 2000, the scheme is extended to 25 IIITs on a Not-for-Profit Public Private Partnership (N-PPP) basis. To contribute significantly to the global competitiveness of key sectors of the Indian economy and industry, MHRD also approved to set up IIIT’s at the State level and Kerala is also one among others started in the year 2000.
Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala, IIITM-K, is a non-profit making autonomous institution registered under Section 8 old Section 25 Companies Act 2013 under the Government of Kerala and the management of the Institute is vested with a Board of Directors comprising eminent industrialists, academicians and senior Government officials appointed by the Government of Kerala. The great leadership of K P P Nambiar and the eminent and well-known members F.C. Kohli, V Rajaraman, Vijay Bhatkar, and T K A Nair all visionary thoughts to establish IIITM-K as a Company, made IIITM-K into a difference, that made a unique culture to think out of the box, that to focus more on innovation, entrepreneurship and Industry- academia collaboration and also to closely working with Government and central Government agencies to deliver various IT-based services.
Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala (IIITM-K) is an autonomous premier educational institution established by the Government of Kerala in the year 2000. IIITM-K is a multidisciplinary premier postgraduate institute conforming to the needs of building capacity at advanced levels of Computer Science and IT by realizing the dreams of students for higher knowledge with great emphasis on Science and Technology. IIITM-K acts as a center of excellence in Information technologies to enhance its scope to provide a holistic learning environment on various facets of the Knowledge economy. The development and application of digital technology for social good is the underlying theme that drives the activities of the Institute. Located in the majestic Techno Park Campus in Trivandrum, IIITM-K has an enviable academic ambiance. The institute offers post-graduate programmes such as MSc Computer Science with various specializations, MPhil, Ph.D. and PG Diploma in E-Governance for Government officials. During the last 20 years, the institute has made significant contributions to advancing information technology research and practice in the country by working with national and international agencies like MeiTY, DST, ICMR, ICAR, Niti Aayog, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES), Melinda Gates Foundation, Coffee Board, Rubber Board, IBM, Intel, etc. IIITM-K’s training and research activities are mainly in niche areas of digital technologies and allied fields like AI and Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Language Technologies, Geospatial analytics, Data Analytics, Biocomputing, Agri-Informatics, IoT, Robotics, Digital Humanities, etc. IIITM-K is closely working with different departments of the Government of Kerala, by implementing various eGovernance projects of the Government of Kerala. IIITM-K conducts a full-time Postgraduate in eGovernance (PGDeG) course for Government sponsored officials for the last 10 years. The course is a full time one year programme and more than 300 officials have been trained in e-Governance and they are mostly placed in the IT cell of various departments for e-Governance support.
The institute hosts several research centers in areas like Data Engineering, Machine Learning, Data Security, etc., and a centre named Kerala Blockchain Academy for spearheading its activities in the fields of data intelligence and blockchain technology. The institute also serves as a nerve centre for many activities of professional bodies like IEEE and ACM in the area of intelligent ICT systems. The institute also established Maker Village, the largest electronic hardware incubator and ESDM facility in the country, which is a pioneering startup initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India with the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Trivandrum as the implementation agency and Kerala Startup Mission as the supporting partner.
To steer Kerala into a leadership role in the emerging knowledge economy, the Government of Kerala has promulgated an ordinance upgrading IIITM-K to “Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology”. The University was set up by the Government of Kerala vide Ordinance No. 9 of 2020 dated 18 January 2020 and started functioning from the new campus of IIITM-K in Technocity.
The new University will strive to be an international benchmark in conducting cutting-edge research and nurturing budding minds in the center for promoting and implementing modern technological interventions in disruptive technologies. The University is aiming to create a capacity building at post-graduate and doctoral levels in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing, Internet of Things, Electronic Systems and Automation, Imaging Technologies, Data Analytics and Big Data, Cyber Security, Blockchain, Ecological Informatics, Geospatial Analytics etc. State-of-the-art labs with professional training programmes, consultancy and implementation solutions to support the Government will be continued for the benefit of society.
The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, once said “True Education Must Correspond to the Surrounding Circumstances or it is not a Healthy Growth”. The Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (Digital University) is conceived to realize the true education that corresponds to the needs of the surroundings which are rapidly transforming due to technological changes. Throughout human history, the adoption of technology has played a significant role in changing the nature of work and life of people. Over the years, major technologies like steam engines, electricity, automobiles, computers, the internet etc., have drastically changed many vocations, disrupted many enterprises and drastically altered the ways of life. Different geographical regions which proactively adopted these changes in a holistic manner could enhance economic wealth and led to overall growth and development. With the evolution of the new wave of digital technologies, it is imperative that proactive measures have to be adopted to support people from all walks of life to adopt the technologies to redefine their jobs so as to excel in the emerging world of the IV Industrial Revolution. Digital University is formed with the aim of driving this Digital Transformation.
The industrial era of the last century had progressively replaced the physical labour of humans with mechanical machines which could do the same job much more effectively at scale. This has resulted in the emergence of large factories and exponential growth in the wealth of industrialized nations. While the industrial era was fuelled by the availability of physical resources, the excellence in the digital world, characterized by knowledge technologies, would depend primarily on the quality and availability of human resources that develop and deliver knowledge products and services throughout the world, removing the handicap of time and space of yesteryears. This necessitates the need to develop an abundance of high-quality human resources with a deep sense of purpose and qualifications to lead the knowledge era in a comprehensive manner. This defines the role of the Digital University.
Digital University aims to be the prime mover of the knowledge revolution in the country by focusing on research and education in science, technology and humanities relevant to the digital world. Keeping in view of the rapid pace of adoption and change, University is expected to provide a flexible learning path to each of the learners so as to discover themselves to excel in the new world. The University would strive to develop capability and purpose in its stakeholders, enabling them to find innovative solutions to large problems faced by society, through the adoption of appropriate pedagogies and learning environments. Focusing on knowledge creation, dissemination and application, Digital University would play a significant role in the effective transformation and growth of the society at large. The five schools of the University- School of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Electronics Systems and Automation, School of Informatics, School of Digital Sciences and School of Digital Humanities- will focus on the development of high-quality talent, research on issues of larger interest and to develop and implement solutions to hasten the pace of digital transformation.
India, due to its resource handicaps and other reasons could not lead during the past three industrial revolutions. The fourth Industrial Revolution which is driven by human intellect and cognition poses a great opportunity for our country, which is abundant with human resources. As Gandhiji said “the future depends on what we do in the present”. I welcome all of you to be a part of Digital University to do the right things today for discovering a bright future.
We at Digital University Kerala catalyzes technical advances that promote societal welfare and address systematically unfulfilled needs.
