Thales and IIIT-Delhi sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Open Hardware Research and Development.

• The Memorandum of Understanding will enable co-development of complex microprocessor architectures and multi-core processing systems.
• These systems will bring value to applications in areas such as edge computing, smart manufacturing, defence and space.

Paris/New Delhi, 27 July 2021: Thales and IIIT-Delhi today signed an agreement for collaborative research and development in the field of Open Hardware and other allied subjects. The collaboration will enable co-development of complex microprocessor architectures and multi-core processing systems using configurations available with the RISC-V open ISA specification. These systems will bring value to applications in areas such as edge computing, smart manufacturing, defence and space.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Marko Erman, Chief Scientific Officer of Thales, Philippe Valery, VP Technical Operations – Research and Technology of Thales, Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Director of Thales in India, Satish Menon, Head of Thales’ Engineering Competence Centre in Bengaluru, and Prof. Ranjan Bose, Director IIIT Delhi,  Prof. Mukesh Mohania, Dean of IRD IIIT-Delhi, Dr. Sujay Deb, Associate Professor, IIIT-Delhi, who will also act as the principle investigator for the research project. Through this association, Thales and IIIT-Delhi will collaboratively address safety issues in designing processors and embedded software for critical applications using open source hardware approach. The activities will commence from August 2021 and will be carried out in phases. 

“We are delighted to join hands with an esteemed institution such as IIIT-Delhi. This partnership comes at an opportune time when technological advancements are fast shaping the world around us. It will draw on the expertise of Thales and scientific talent of IIIT-Delhi to enhance research and development in the area of open hardware and related subjects, and contribute to the rich innovation eco-system in India,” Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Director of Thales in India said.

 While wishing success to the implementation of the MoU, the Director IIIT-Delhi, Prof. Ranjan Bose said, “I am both happy and excited about the signing of the MoU today and the potential it holds for a very productive collaboration between IIITD and Thales.  This collaboration is unique because of the problem-first approach and will leverage complementary skill sets from both sides.  This is a long-term strategic partnership and also a step towards strengthening Indo-French collaboration and cooperation.”

Thales seeks to foster innovation and develop an ecosystem for scientific and industrial research by partnering with world-leading universities. In India, Thales has formed partnerships with the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Bombay and Delhi.

Each year Thales invests around 4 billion of euros in R&D including 1 billion of self-funded R&D to develop cutting-edge technologies to best serve its customers across the world. Submitted by Pallavi Kaushik, IIIT Delhi