Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) Deemed to be University here on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL) for establishment of a 5G Lab and collaboration towards exploring other opportunities including building new technologies such as optical communication and 6G.

A separate MoU was also signed during the program between SOA and the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) with the objective of developing skilled manpower in the domains of interest such as management and emerging technologies through the participatory mode.

The MoU was signed during the launching of the 5G services in Odisha at the SOA auditorium which was attended by union minister for Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan and minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw.

SOA’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda and STPI’s Director General Mr. Arvind Kumar signed one of the MoUs while the university’s Director Prof. Manas Kumar Mallick and JPL’s President Dr. Ravi P. Gandhi signed the other.

The MoU between JPL and SOA underlined that JPL and/or its affiliates and group companies would work with SOA to meet the growing requirement of research and training in the latest 5G standard – 5G Standalone (SA), optical fiber networks, work on development of new services and use-cases on the 5G platform, optical fiber communication as well as other associated technology domains such as Beyond 5G (B5G) and to work on other projects.

JPL would establish ‘Jio Standalone Technology Test Labs’ in collaboration with SOA and work with developers of the university for sharing necessary technical information which might be necessary to execute the projects. In this regard, JPL may also set up a 5G test bed at SOA University.

Mr. Vaishnaw, while on a visit to SOA on September 15 last, had suggested that a university like SOA needed to set up a 5G lab while promising all assistance for the venture. A world class 5G lab had already been established at IIT, Madras to provide a boost to the 5G technology, he had said.

SOA Deemed to be University would help execute the project by providing the necessary infrastructure for setting up the lab and facilitate the training and developmental activities.

SOA and STPI, as per the MoU signed between them, would work together to develop skilled manpower in the domains of interest such as management, emerging technologies through a participatory mode including internships, placements, field visits, joint programs, projects and consultancy.

The scope of the MoU included designing and delivering various industry-oriented training and certification program for individual, corporate and industry professionals at the national and international level in the domain and technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), to enhance the start-up eco-system in Odisha.