Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agastya International Foundation to set up a Center of Excellence (CoE) for smart agriculture at the latter’s campus in Andhra Pradesh, India.
The aim of the new facility is to train students in emerging technologies to develop their skills and knowledge in the areas of IoT and computer programming.
“Technology can play a vital role in addressing rapidly-evolving global needs related to food and agriculture. Being a purpose-driven organization, we are leveraging previously untapped resources to reveal new solutions for such social and environmental challenges,” said Som Satsangi, MD, HPE India. “The launch of this CoE in partnership with Agastya International Foundation will train the youth of our country on the technology to improve yield, productivity and sustainability across the entire agricultural ecosystem.”
Under the MoU with HPE, Agastya International Foundation will identify and select undergraduate computer science or engineering students from the region. Under the guidance of IoT experts from HPE, the selected students will have the opportunity to work with soil fertility experts on agriculture-related projects.
“Food security is amongst the most critical issues facing society today, making it crucial for industry, technology, academia and government to come together and solve such global challenges,” said Ramji Raghavan, Founder and Chairman, Agastya International Foundation.
The computing infrastructure deployed at the CoE features HPE’s intelligent edge solutions including HPE Edgeline EL300 Converged Edge System, HPE Edgeline OT Link Platform and HPE Edgeline EL4000 Converged Edge System. The CoE will also provide access to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, HPE said.
The solution expertise and incubation support for the CoE will be provided by HPE Pointnext Global Customer Solution Center (CSC) based in Bengaluru who deliver technical services to over 50 countries in areas of product support, remote infrastructure management services, consulting services and big data, analytics and IoT services.
“To achieve a sustainable future we will require disruptive transformation across every industry including agriculture. Digital agriculture has the potential to accelerate the productivity of food systems while cutting farming inputs,” said Sanjay Mujoo, VP, HPE Pointnext Services. “Through this CoE, we aim to provide the students with the requisite IoT training enabling them to find innovative solutions to boost yields and reduce waste.”
HPE has recently announced plans to invest $500 million in India over the next five years. This strategic investment will enable the company to grow its operations, manufacturing and employee base in the country, increase its R&D and services exports, as well as invest in technology initiatives to drive positive change for local Indian communities.
HPE said it plans to start manufacturing in India. The company is scheduled to start manufacturing Aruba’s portfolio of mobility and IoT solutions in India before the end of 2019.
Aruba Networks, formerly known as Aruba Wireless Networks, is a California-based wireless networking subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.
