C-DOT must stand as an institution of global eminence: Minister

New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) Telecom is key to national security as "every network we build, every signal we transmit, every data packet we carry is part of India’s strategic infrastructure", Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Monday.

The minister, who presided as chief guest at the inaugural foundation day of Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) here, further said that by 2047, when India celebrates 100 years of Independence, C-DOT must stand as an institution of global eminence.

He emphasised that the world should look to it for secure, affordable, and trusted telecom solutions.

"That is the scale of ambition we must set for ourselves," the minister added.

He appreciated C-DOT’s delivery of 4G core for BSNL network and asked C-DOT engineers to further scale it to a world-class product.

C-DOT, the premier Telecom R&D Centre of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, celebrated its 42nd Foundation Day at C-DOT Campus here, marking 41 years since its foundation in 1984.

Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Dr Neeraj Mittal, said that efforts of the engineers and encouragement to them to engage in research and development led to advancing India’s digital growth story through innovation, collaboration and a relentless focus on addressing local challenges with globally competitive solutions.

The Foundation Day highlighted its role in advancing research and innovation in the telecom domain, and the occasion was power-packed with various technical sessions.

During the celebration, 10 women-led entrepreneurs were recognised and awarded a grant for research and development of their projects by the minister.

NIDHI, an initiative to encourage and empower women-led Startups in the ICT sector, was also launched by C-DOT.

NIDHI reflects the commitment of C-DOT to the promotion of a culture of synergetic innovation for the co-creation and development of indigenous telecom products/solutions with academia, startups, and industries, aligning with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

--IANS

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