India, UK Expand Ties In Telecom, AI, Space Tech

New Delhi: India and the UK have expanded their collaboration in key areas of telecom, artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, the government said on Friday.

Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary (Telecom) visited the UK to engage with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK and explore opportunities for collaboration in next-generation telecommunications, AI, and space technology, further strengthening the Indo-UK ties in these critical areas.

A roundtable discussion was convened with key UK stakeholders from DSIT, leading business entities such as BT and Ericsson, and innovation hubs and centres, including SONIC Labs, UK Telecom Labs, TITAN, JOINER.

Representatives from the UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Innovate UK, and the UK Technology Innovation Network (UKTIN) also participated, exploring avenues for mutual cooperation.

Dr Mittal highlighted India's leadership in the telecom sector and its rapid advancements in next-generation network technologies.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between SONIC Labs and the Centre for Development of Telematics (CDOT). The agreement focuses on Open RAN-related policy and technical matters, including 5G Open RAN and AI in 4G/5G.

The telecom Secretary met Chris Johnson, National Scientific Adviser, and Dave Smith, National Technology Adviser of DSIT.

The discussions centred on emerging technologies and their applications in 5G, 6G, digital infrastructure security.

Dr Mittal also met Geoff Huggins, Director, Digital Directorate, government of Scotland, to discuss collaborative efforts in digital transformation through telecom, telecom security, and emerging telecom technologies.

He visited one of the six Federated Telecom Hubs (FTH) in the UK, specialising in Cloud and Distributed Computing (CHEDDAR). This hub leads cutting-edge research in 6G distributed cloud, AI for 6G, green 6G and advanced sensing technologies.