To commemorate the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, C-DOT, the premier Telecom R&D Centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India celebrates and announces special Initiatives “NIDHI” & “STAR Program” for the development of indigenous telecom solutions & technologies.
The World Telecom Day 2024, aims to promote a culture of synergetic innovation for indigenous development by collaboration with academia, startups, and industries to co-create indigenous telecom products/solutions to meet the telecom needs of India in strategic, rural, and sectors of national importance.
Women in India are making advances in multiple areas across ICT and STEM (Science, technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and contributing to software development, engineering, and technology. To further encourage entrepreneurship and innovation C-DOT launches “NIDHI”.
The applications, under “NIDHI” are open to DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) recognized startups led by women The top 10 selected startups will be provided with necessary support including funding and assistance.
This will include an initial grant of 10 lakh INR each, access to well-furnished office space for 6 months, access to tools & Lab facilities, mentorship from C-DOT technical leaders, and an opportunity for future collaboration under the C-DOT Collaborative Research Program. For more information visit
#WATCH | World telecom day, since 1969, marks the ITU's 1865 founding. It urges action to bridge the digital divide and promote inclusive tech access. 🌐#DigitalInclusion #TechForAll pic.twitter.com/1qqapNV9it
— DD India (@DDIndialive) May 17, 2024
Through STAR” Program C-DOT offers scholarship to PhD student one each from the top 20 NIRF (National Institute Ranking Framework) ranking engineering institutes. The program offers a scholarship amount of INR 6 Lakh per annum to the selected scholar for up to four years.
The selected students will be extended mentorship from research leaders of C-DOT and access to lab facilities. Twelve PhD Students, from Anna University, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Thapar University, NIT Surathkal, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Indore, IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT Delhi, were issued scholarship approval letters today.
Telecommunications Secretary Dr Neeraj Mittal today highlighted that sustainable development will require the deployment of technology across the entire supply chains, economies and social sectors. He said, telecom is an integral part of it, and added that the digital economy will become roughly about 1.5 billion dollars in India by 2025-26 and it will be a good 15% of the GDP. “I cannot think that it can happen in any other way except when we have a very robust telecom network system,” he added.
Secretary (T) was addressing participants of round-table discussions organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on World Telecom and Information Society Day (WTISD), being observed at the DoT HQ.
The Secretary (T) highlighted the efforts of the department with the schemes such as Digital Communication Innovation Square (DCIS) and Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) through which it was able to support a lot of entrepreneurs who are now using technologies to solve small or bigger problems individually in their own spheres.
Secretary (T) informed that the 5G rollout in India has been the fastest around the world. Further, 100 5G use cases labs, established across the country, are providing opportunities associated with 5G technology by encouraging the development of 5G applications. Towards this about 350 faculty members from various colleges, in and around Delhi, have been trained in a one-month-long 5G course, which was developed in-house.
Senior official of the DoT, Industry captains, Start-ups, Associations and Organisations besides media were present on the occasion.
The World Telecom and Information Society Day (WTISD), observed on 17th May, is one of the important international days observed by the DoT to highlight the critical role of telecommunications in economic and social development globally.
The WTISD is celebrated globally to mark the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as ways to bridge the digital divide. Each year, WTISD focuses on a specific theme related to telecommunications and information society issues and this year’s focus is on “Digital Innovation for Sustainable Development”.
On this occasion, this year DoT organised a round table discussion on “Sustainable Digital Development driven by AI” with participants from Industry, chaired by Secretary (T). Various industry, start-ups, associations and organisations participated in the round table discussions, which included Tejas Networks, VVDN, Nivetti, Cisco, Nokia, Sensorise, Lekha, Sparsh, HFCL, XS Infosol, TEMA, MAIT, COAI, VoICE. The discussion aimed at exploring the transformative potential that the AI holds towards sustainable development and what more efforts are required from stakeholders to achieve the goals of SDG.
Additionally, the event also focused on other initiatives of DoT which are using the power of AI, including the Sangam: Digital Twin and citizen-centric portal Sanchar Saathi.
To demonstrate practical use cases for infrastructure planning and design, the DoT launched the Sangam Digital Twin with AI-driven Insights Initiative on February 15, 2024. This initiative called for Expressions of Interest (EoI) from a diverse pool of stakeholders, including industry giants, tech firms, startups, academia, and individual innovators.
The goal is to validate through real-world applications and demonstration of use cases, to showcase potential benefits in planning and designing of infrastructure using Digital Twin, telecom data and AI.
Three outreach programs were conducted in March 2024. These events featured over 40 distinguished speakers and garnered an overwhelming response. The response to the Stage-I EoI was significant, with 199 submissions received. Out of these, 144 applicants have been selected to participate in the PoC (List of selected participants https://sangam.sancharsaathi.gov.in/selected-participants). These selected participants include a broad spectrum of participants, from well-established telecom service providers (TSPs) and large technology corporations to dynamic startups and renowned academic institutions.
Further, DoT plans to host networking events for the selected participants to develop use cases in a detailed and specific manner, deliberate with stakeholders to assess the value and importance of use cases for end users, and evaluate the feasibility and availability of requisite data. These events will also help identify competent and willing partners to develop components or modules and demonstrate use cases for infrastructure planning and designing.
The Virgin Islands celebrates World Telecommunications and Information Society Day today, May 17, 2024, under the theme “Unleashing the Potential of Technology within YOU through Education”. Minister for Communications, Honourable Kye M. Rymer, announced the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (the Commission).
As part of the celebrations, the Commission is partnering with the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) to offer an Application (App) Development Course in the upcoming Fall Academic Year. This course aims to unleash the potential of technology through education and empower residents to become creators in the digital age.
“In today’s digital landscape, it is crucial to equip our community with the skills needed to thrive in the ever-evolving job market,” said Honourable Rymer. “By offering this App Development Course, we are taking action to support digital innovation and prepare our people for the future.”
Stage I: Exploratory Phase (Two Months- by July’24) – Designed to encourage wide-ranging participation and foster innovative thinking. Stakeholders contribute to a ‘living list’ of use cases, encouraging continuous dialogue on viable and impactful technological applications. Stage II: Development and Demonstration (Six Months- by January 2025) – Focused on practical application, involving the development and demonstration of selected use cases.
Statistics for Sanchar Saathi Portal https://sancharsaathi.gov.in
