National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems

On 7^th December, 2018 Union Cabinet has approved the launching of National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). The Mission would be implemented by Department of Science & Technology at a total outlay of Rs. 3660 crore for a period of five years.

Objectives of the Mission:

The Mission aims to address the ever increasing technological requirements of the society, and takes into account the international trends and road maps of leading countries for the next generation technologies. The objectives of the Mission are listed below:

• To ensure the Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and associated technologies are within reach in the country.
• Addressing India specific National / Regional issues by the adoption of CPS technologies.
• Producing Next Generation skilled manpower in CPS.
• Catalyzing Translational Research.
• Accelerating entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystem development in CPS.
• To give impetus to advanced research in CPS, Technology development and higher education in Science, Technology and Engineering disciplines.
• Placing India at par with other advanced countries and derive several direct and indirect benefits.

Implementation Strategy:

The mission aims to attain the objectives through:

• Establishment of fifteen Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH), six Application Innovation Hubs (AIH) and four Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP).
• These Hubs and Parks would connect with Academics, Industry, Central Ministries and State Government in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and other organizations across the country in a hub and spoke model.
• Adopting of a strategic approach involving a suitable mix of Academic, Industry and Government.
• Steering and Monitoring Mechanisms in the form of Mission Governing Board (MGB), Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee (IMCC), Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and other Sub-Committees will be established to guide and monitor the implementation of the Mission.
• The Hubs and TTRPs will have four focused areas to guide the implementation. The Focus areas include
  • Technology Development.
  • HRD & Skill Development.
  • Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups Ecosystem Development.
  • International Collaborations.

Benefits of the Mission:

• The Mission will aid the Central Ministries/ Departments, State Governments, and also the Industry to effectively use the CPS technologies in their projects and schemes for the benefit of the society.
• Adopting CPS technologies would provide a cutting edge to India’s scientific, engineering, and technological innovative capabilities. It would also support other missions of the government, provide industrial and economic competitiveness.
• Volume, scale and complexity of emerging applications require continued evolution of new technologies for the foreseeable future.
• The Mission could act as an engine of growth that would benefit national initiatives in health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, strategic cum security, and industrial sectors, Industry 4.0, SMART Cities, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) etc.
• CPS would bring a paradigm shift in entire skill sets requirement. It would also provide for enhanced job opportunities through the Mission by imparting advanced skills and generating skilled manpower as per the requirement of the industry/ society.

CPS and its associated technologies are playing a transformative role in almost every field of human endeavor across all most all sectors. Hence it was imperative for government and industries in India to be prepared to adopt these emerging and disruptive technologies in order to remain competitive, drive societal progress, generate employment, foster economic growth and to improve the overall quality of life and sustainability of the environment.