IIT-Bombay has joined a consortium of foreign universities for setting up a research centre in New York which would work to solve complex urban problems.
Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay also envisages setting up of a research centre with a similar theme with greater focus on Indian cities, at Mumbai in course of time, Minister of State in the HRD ministry D Purandeswari told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
The IIT had joined New York University, Carnegie Melon, Toronto University and Warwick University with New York University as the lead partner to bid for setting up an Applied Sciences Research Institute in New York City.
“The bid document envisaged setting up a Centre for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP),” she said.
Subsequently, in April this year, the consortium bid was declared as the second winner and the group was requested to set up CUSP in Brooklyn, New York, Purandeswari said.
“Some industry partners like IBM, Cisco, Xerox, Siemens, ARUP have also now joined the consortium to help it achieve its goals,” she said.
CUSP will explore solutions to several complex urban problems and the focussed city for it initially would be New York, the Minister said.
She said that eventually it will also involve itself in solving problems of other global cities like London, Toronto, Mumbai and others.
“CUSP will take up such problems in consultation with various city service agencies like transport, housing, communication, databases, health, water, power etc,” she said.