Hewlett Packard Enterprise launches center of excellence to skill students in IOT-based agriculture

Hewlett Packard Enterprise today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agastya International Foundation to set up a fully-equipped Center of Excellence (CoE) at the latter’s campus in Gudipalli, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, focused on skilling students in emerging technologies to develop their skills and knowledge in the areas of IoT and computer programming. The facility will provide students with access to advanced IT solutions that are at the leading edge of technology innovation in the agricultural sector to achieve higher food production from finite land resources.

“Technology can play a vital role in addressing rapidly-evolving global needs related to food and agriculture. Being a purpose-driven organization, we are leveraging previously untapped resources to reveal new solutions for such social and environmental challenges,” said Som Satsangi, MD, HPE India. “The launch of this CoE in partnership with Agastya International Foundation will train the youth of our country on the technology to improve yield, productivity and sustainability across the entire agricultural ecosystem.”

For student enrollment, Agastya International Foundation will identify and select underprivileged, undergraduate computer science or engineering students around Gudipalli, Chittoor district. Under the guidance of IoT experts from HPE, these students will have the opportunity to work with soil fertility experts on agriculture-related projects. The HPE training for these students, in the areas of IoT and computer programming, also aims to improve their employment prospects.

“Food security is amongst the most critical issues facing society today, making it crucial for industry, technology, academia and government to come together and solve such global challenges,” said Ramji Raghavan, Founder and Chairman, Agastya International Foundation. “We are happy to partner with HPE to setup this CoE, which demonstrates our commitment to spark curiosity, nurture creativity, and instill confidence in our youth so they can leverage technology to achieve real change for society.”

The computing infrastructure deployed at the CoE features HPE’s intelligent edge solutions including HPE Edgeline EL300 Converged Edge System, HPE Edgeline OT Link Platform and HPE Edgeline EL4000 Converged Edge System. The CoE will also provide access to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services. The solution expertise and incubation support for the CoE will be provided by HPE Pointnext Global Customer Solution Center (CSC) based in Bengaluru who deliver technical services to over 50 countries in areas of product support, remote infrastructure management services, consulting services and big data, analytics & IoT services.

“To achieve a sustainable future we will require disruptive transformation across every industry including agriculture. Digital agriculture has the potential to accelerate the productivity of food systems while cutting farming inputs,” said Sanjay Mujoo, VP, HPE Pointnext Services. “Through this CoE, we aim to provide the students with the requisite IoT training enabling them to find innovative solutions to boost yields and reduce waste.”