IBM today announced an Open Collaboration Research (OCR) project
with the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at the Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay). The unique research collaboration
will focus on the development of new designs for mobile device
interfaces that can easily be used by people who are semiliterate
or illiterate, as well as individuals who have limited or no access
to information technology.
The collaboration, with a core focus on developing simple,
inexpensive mobile phone user interfaces for everyone, regardless
of geography or education level, aims to introduce new levels of
ease-of-use to mobile phone interaction via developed software
technology that will be made available to the public through open
source.
“IBM believes that close collaborative innovation with
world-class academic institutions such as IIT Bombay, is the key to
finally bridging the digital divide and putting the power of
information sources and services in everyone’s hands,”
said Dr Manish Gupta, Director, IBM Research – India and
Chief Technologist, IBM India/South Asia. “Mobile devices are
becoming ubiquitous. Together, IBM and IIT Bombay will develop
smarter technologies around mobile devices that will help
individuals and businesses around the world transcend many
boundaries – geographical, economic and social.”
The growing acceptance and popularity of mobile phones globally has
opened up a new platform for taking information and services to a
vast population, who hitherto has been lacking them. The multimodal
interface will offer a simpler, inexpensive option for the
underprivileged to reap the benefits of information technology.
“Over the last few years, it has become clear that the next
generation innovations in the ICTs will be directed towards solving
the problems of developing countries like India. Many of our design
students and researchers enjoy working on such problems. The
collaboration between IIT Bombay and IBM gives us the opportunity
to explore and apply some of the newest technologies for this
purpose. It is not only mutually beneficial but also intends to
address larger socio-economic challenges.” said Prof Anirudha
Joshi, Associate Professor, IIT Bombay.
The new research partnership with IIT Bombay is the third such
engagement in India under IBM's OCR program. In March this year,
IBM announced an OCR project with the National Institute of Design
(NID). It was preceded by an OCR engagement with the Indian School
of Business (ISB).
The projects with IIT Bombay and NID are part of IBM's five-year,
USD 100 million investment to advance mobile services and
capabilities for businesses and consumers worldwide. Through these
initiatives, IBM is aiming to drive new intelligence into the
underpinnings of the mobile Web to create new efficiencies in
business operations and people’s daily lives.