Pune University offers glimpse into a smarter city

I recently joined the British Trade Office in Pune as its new Knowledge Economy Advisor. Having previously worked for the British Council I know Pune’s key strength is its excellence in education and focus on innovation. The Savitribai Phule Pune University is one India’s top universities. So, I took the opportunity to visit to find out more.

Founded in 1948 and originally Pune University it is a sprawling campus covering over 411 acres. It is home to over 46 academic departments, which includes the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). Interestingly IUCAA is involved in setting up India’s own observatory to detect gravitational waves. So there’s plenty of interesting research going on.

To find out more I met with the university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Wasudeo Gade, a noted biologist and life sciences expert. Since 2012 he’s been overseeing the universities development especially the adaptation and development of new technologies. This reflects a broader need in India to give its students the right skills to translate research into new products and services that help solve real problems.

Professor Gade identified some key areas where he was keen to collaborate with UK researchers. Broadly this included engineering, industrial technologies including advanced manufacturing, biomedical instruments, material science, biotechnology, big data and cyber security. I will follow this up – but the UK has much to offer through its world class research and innovation ecosystem using bilateral programmes such as the Newton-Bhabha programme.

I was particularly interested to know Professor Gade’s plans on the innovation and incubation front. India’s size and potential make innovation a key part of its Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, Skills India, etc programmes. Pune University is playing its role too. Professor Gade outlined an early blueprint of an incubation centre to support the Startup India mission. I highlighted our strengths: we rank second in the Global Innovation Index; India is one of our biggest inward investors; world class research base, etc. But I think highlighting the UK’s innovation network of catapult centres really sparked interest in the opportunities on how Pune creates a more strategic set of knowledge and innovation clusters.

There’s so much going on in Pune already. It is home to tech-incubator Venture Centre (spin off from the National Chemical Labs) and the Tata Research and Development and Design Centre, which is the first software research institute in Pune and also runs the co-innovation (COIN) network. It is responding to the needs of the automotive industry – with the Auto Cluster Development and Research Institute helping small/medium sized companies on product development, provide world class services and testing facilities to industry at reasonable cost.

So through my conversation with Professor Gade it is clear that Pune is a top Indian city where the scale and pace of development is high. This means an even closer partnership with Britain, which is why we’re supporting its ambitious plan to become one of India’s 100 smart cities. A key part of being a smart city is supporting innovation. My visit to Pune University was a glimpse into what this city has to offer.