C-DOT’s Collaborative Research Program 2022 (CCRP-2022)

Working with industry, start-ups, and academia to bring greater levels of research and innovation into the country

Current Telecom Scenario.

The telecom industry is at the center of digital transformations across industries. Fueled by disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, advanced wireless communication, cloud, and quantum computing, the sector is set to witness further rapid growth.

This sector will play a role as an enabler supporting other critical infrastructure and be pivotal for industries like health, education, power, agriculture, human capital development, and governance.

Presently, almost 85 percent of the country’s demand for telecom equipment is met through imports.

It is to reduce this dependency that the government of India has undertaken multiple initiatives and policy measures – for example changing the import duty structure of telecom equipment, policies like Make in India, production linked incentives (PLI), and Design linked incentives (DLI). All of these will encourage a stronger telecom manufacturing and Research eco-system for nurturing innovation in the country and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Aligning to the goal of Atmananirbhar Bharat (Self Reliant India), Union Budget 2022-23 has also announced an allocation of five percent of annual collections under the Universal Service Obligation Fund, for carrying out R&D to develop relevant products and solutions to enable the development and proliferation of next-generation telecom technologies in urban as well as rural and remote areas and promote indigenous manufacturing and R&D.

C-DOT and its Collaborative Research Program 2022 (CCRP-2022)

C-DOT has more than three decades of R&D experience in the indigenous design, development and production of telecom technologies especially suited to the Indian landscape.

It has been at the technology forefront and has significantly contributed to the digitization of the Indian Telecom Network. As part of its development process, C-DOT positioned a wide base of equipment manufacturers and component vendors for the Indian industry.

A well-researched methodology blended with newer technologies, would fill the Research and Development gaps in the country, and give an impetus to IPR generation contributing to telecom standards. It would open up export opportunities.

Thus, to meet the CDOT vision 2047 ‘to be a global player in telecom technology development, apart from fulfilling strategic and rural telecom needs of the country, C-DOT is re-inventing its strategy by opening multiple channels of collaboration with Indian industry partners, academia, startups, MSMEs, etc. for collaborative Research and Development of commercial grade indigenous telecom products.

Such collaboration will not only fill the research and development gaps in the country but also give an impetus to IPR generation and contribution to telecom standards, as well as open up export opportunities. It will also leverage the strengths and expertise of each party for developing telecom solutions that will reduce time to market.

The C-DOT Collaborative Research Program 2022 (CCRP-2022) initiative opens up collaboration with industry for joint R&D.

CCRP-2022 will act as a catalyst in creating an enabling environment for innovators and startups to flourish with C-DOT. The main role of C-DOT will be of a facilitator in development of products and solutions.

To meet the CDOT vision 2047 ‘to be a global player’ in telecom technology development, and fulfilling strategic and rural telecom needs of the country, CDOT is re-inventing itself by opening multiple channels of collaboration with Indian industry partners, academia, startups, MSMEs.

Through CCRP, C-DOT will co-create Indigenous products/solutions in the ICT area through collaboration. C-DOT will provide funding for telecom product development programs and handhold startups to scale up their innovation together with the C-DOT partnership.

A recent example of such collaboration is the successful POC trial of C-DOT’s indigenous 4G solution in partnership with TCS and Tejas Networks in the BSNL network, which resulted in a commercial order.

CCRP will:

• Facilitate rapid development of indigenous and innovative telecom technologies for telecom needs of India in Strategic, Rural, and Sectors of national importance with shorter timelines

• Create a culture of synergetic innovation with industry players, Academia, research institutions, and startups, to encourage co-creation of technology development in ICT areas.

• Empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the Indian telecom sectors that will have a potential impact on increasing local manufacturing, value addition, capacity building, and strengthening of the Indian telecom industry.

Through CCRP, C-DOT will invite applications in various technology areas such as Wireless mobile services (5G, 6G), Advanced optical (Transport and Access) technology, Quantum communications, telecom Security, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Wi-Fi, IoT &M2M, Intelligent and self-correcting networks, advanced switching and routing solutions, etc.

These proposals can be at an ideation stage, or at an advanced stage of the product development life cycle. The proposals, after due diligence, will be referred to Selection Committees for technical evaluations and conformities to RFPs, etc. On approval of proposals, C-DOT will provide due assistance in providing infrastructure & resources used for development, Tools-Testers, technical mentorship, and financial assistance.

Funding and Revenue sharing will be done on FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) terms to C-DOT and the proposal partners.

Collaboration Areas under CCRP-2022

Collaborations with C-DOT under CCRP can be done through four major collaboration programs:

1. 5G development under C-DOT ‘India 5G Alliance’ -‘India 5G Alliance’, with C-DOT as a facilitator, will undertake research programs in 5G under guidance from DOT. The purpose of this alliance is to facilitate the design and development of indigenous 5G products through collaboration among various Indian companies and academic institutions that are working on 5G technologies. There are ten consortia under the alliance, each focusing on a particular key technology area in 5G.

2) IoT & oneM2M development under Centre of Innovation (COI) - The main objective of this center is to provide a platform for the development of oneM2M standards-compliant IoT/M2M solutions. This center will create an ecosystem of indigenous solution developers and will provide them with an easy-to-use facility for testing the solutions developed by them and help make these solutions oneM2M compliant. C-DOT will make available its state-of-the-art IoT/M2M common service platform for integration, interoperability testing, and conformance to global standards.

3) Collaboration in telecom technologies (other than 5G/6G/IoT) under the C-DOT research program - Joint design and development of indigenous telecom solutions in key areas of telecom technology such as quantum communication, optical technologies, Wi-Fi, Routers, switches, applications, Telecom Security, etc.

A recent example of such collaboration is the successful POC trial of C-DOT’s indigenous 4G solution in partnership with TCS and Tejas Networks in the BSNL network.

4) Entrepreneurship Cell at C-DOT Delhi and Bengaluru (for early-stage Startups) - C-DOT is setting up incubation centers at C-DOT Delhi and Bangalore with an aim to build a strong ecosystem for promoting innovation through early-stage startups in key technology focus areas. C-DOT will provide necessary support including funding for promoting innovations and entrepreneurship.

C-DOT will also fund research scholars from IITs/NITs working in the area of telecom and security. One scholarship each will be sanctioned to the selected institutes.

Roles, Responsibilities, and Functions of C-DOT in CCR

• Inviting proposals from the industry, academia, startups, cfvbn, etc. in different technology areas
• Evaluation of proposal and upon approval: signing the agreement, finalization of milestones, defining clear milestones/targets that are easy to track, framing a budget and payment schedule
• Periodic monitoring of the progress and review of project milestones collecting predefined periodic reports and utilization certificates in the prescribed format
• Reviewing the technical and financial progress of the agreement and fund disbursement to the participating partner against the milestones or as per the technology readiness Level (TRL)
• Facilitation in terms of technical support, testing, integration, field trial, Proof of Concept, etc.
• Specialized mentorship from C-DOT and other associated partners from Industries/ research institutes/ Govt. organizations for project-oriented consultation/ technology and business development issues.

Broadly, the collaboration process is as follow

1. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches will be adopted. Projects of interest to national needs are put up by C-DOT on its website as calls for proposals where universities/research institutions/industry/startups etc. can participate. In the bottom-up approach, any university/research institution/industry / startup, etc., based on its current research activities and capability in the field of telecom and security, can also propose to undertake research activities that are of significant importance in the development of current or future technologies.
2. 3C (C-DOT collaboration Cell ) will check the proposal for preliminary eligibility. Post successful checks the 3C will forward applications and the relevant documents to the concerned Consortium Panel (CP) for a detailed technical evaluation of the proposals.
3. For proposals which need funding value beyond the powers of CP, the application will be forwarded to Technology Advisory Board (TAB) along with recommendations of CP. TAB will review the detailed evaluation report submitted by the panel and will further deliberate on proposal.
4. For proposal beyond the powers defined for TAB, the C-DOT Steering committee will discuss the TAB recommendations and consider the proposal for approval or otherwise.
5. Subsequent to the review and selection of the proposals as per this policy, 3C shall send a Letter of Approval (LOA) along with the agreement mentioning the terms and conditions of the collaboration, agreed milestones plan, fund disbursement plan, IPR sharing, etc. to the respective organization.

Broad Evaluation Criteria of the proposals

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Funding Models

Research and product development may require financial support in the form of funding from C-DOT. The partners can submit information on quantum of funds required and the choice of funding method (equity, loan, grant). However, the model and payments terms of funding of proposals may vary on a case-to-case basis.

3C will periodically monitor the progress of collaborative projects through a PMU established for this purpose. The progress will be gauged on the agreed detailed monthly or quarterly plan of the expected milestones/activities. Fund disbursement will be based on milestones achieved measured in terms of TRL level. Major Funding models are :

Funding Model Description

Equity- Funding in this case will be treated as an investment in the venture (investment into technology) in the form of agreed equity in the participating company.

Soft Loan- C-DOT can provide funding to applicant or joint partners as soft loans. A nominal percentage of simple interest will be levied.

Grants- On the basis of merits of the proposal that are of national and strategic importance, C-DOT will provide funds to the partner as a grant. Any foreground technology developed and required for realization of the product will be shared on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms to all participating partners and the Indian eco-system.

Funding on Revenue sharing Model- In this model C-DOT will fund joint research programs and revenue generated through licensing and royalty from the product through Transfer of technology (TOT) will be shared among participating partners who contribute to the product. Revenue sharing will be decided on the basis of contribution from each participating partner as per the agreement.

IPR and Revenue Sharing

C-DOT will follow a very liberalized policy of IPR and revenue sharing primarily on FRAND ( fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms protecting the interests of the collaborating partner(s) and C-DOT. C-DOT will protect its and its partners' interest in revenue and IPR sharing of the successful outcomes of the collaboration. The IPR and revenue sharing will vary from case to case basis depending on the model, quantum of funding, etc. More details of the program are available on website C-DOT’s website, www.cdot.in, or any queries related to the proposals can be mailed to ccrp@cdot.in.

By Gagandeep Asiwal, SRE, Office of the Executive Director, CDOT

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