Intel India joins hands with IIT Bombay to launch Plugin Alliance for acceleration of Industry 4.0 in India

Intel India, in collaboration with Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE)-IIT Bombay, has launched the Plugin Alliance, in what it says is a first-of-its-kind industry-technology alliance with a focus on accelerating Industry 4.0 transformation in India.

A statement from Intel India said the Alliance brings together members representing large enterprises, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), technology solution providers, systems integrators, startups, the startup ecosystem including funding partners, relevant incubators, government, and industry bodies. The roadmap of this alliance includes collaborating with other global bodies focused on Industry 4.0.

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Plugin Alliance aims to advance and scale emerging technology solutions spanning Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Vision, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), robotics, cybersecurity, 5G and Edge, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and mobility, and other future emerging technologies to help accelerate digital transformation. 

With ‘Making Industries Intelligent’ as its motto, Plugin Alliance’s key components include increasing awareness about and enabling the adoption of Industry 4.0 among larger enterprises and SMEs; identifying and exploring current and future Industry 4.0 solutions; accelerating startups to develop market-ready solutions; building India as a brand for Industry 4.0 solutions; and enhancing the attractiveness of Indian manufacturing.

Commenting on this development, Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India, and Vice President, Intel Foundry Services, said, “With digitalisation taking center stage across industries and businesses, Intel remains committed to partnering with the India ecosystem to drive digital transformation. Plugin Alliance brings together the key constituents of the ecosystem on one platform to find, innovate, build, adopt and scale smart industrial solutions.

She further noted, “As India enters the 75th year of independence, the launch of this first-of-its-kind initiative marks the beginning of a journey to leverage technology, transforming India into a global hub for smart industrial solutions, and enhancing the competitiveness of our industries on a global level.”

Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal also spoke at the inaugural event of Plugin Alliance.

The members of the Plugin Alliance represent all facets of the Industry 4.0 ecosystem, which will enable the formation of special interest groups for its industry members to drive innovation and the potential adoption of emerging technologies.

One of the focus areas for the Alliance members is to curate Industry 4.0 startups based on their area of interest and priorities. Once aligned, members define the success criteria and provide an immersive environment for the startup to do their pilots. The Alliance aims to build a community that shares and collaborates on ideas and on promoting India as a brand for Industry 4.0 solutions.

The Plugin Accelerator programme, which is now a part of the Plugin Alliance, will be available to startups who are members of the Alliance. The Plugin Accelerator will now evolve to have a rolling admission process for early- and growth-stage startups that offer emerging and disruptive use cases to cater to the needs of the ecosystem for Industry 4.0 acceleration. The Alliance currently has 53 members, including 25 startups.

The Alliance strongly believes India has a tremendous opportunity to innovate, build, adopt and scale Industry 4.0 solutions to enhance its global competitiveness.

“IIT Bombay has several high impact initiatives going on its campus where the focus is to provide smart solutions leveraging innovations. By bringing industry, academia and startups on the same platform, the process will accelerate for the mutual benefits of the businesses and startups,” said Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of IIT Bombay.