Nokia signs R&D deal with Indian transport institute to develop 5G logistics solutions

Nokia has signed a research and development (R&D) deal with the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya university in India, formerly the country’s National Rail and Transportation Institute, to develop 5G and 6G solutions for the country’s transport and logistics sector. Their joint work will address solutions and standards for the transportation and logistics industry, including air, sea, and land-based use cases. They will also look at smart factory and industrial automation cases, and look to stand-up R&D labs to investigate the application of AI, notably generative AI, plus IoT, invariably. 

Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya is a specialist engineering university, which operates under the ministry of railways in India with a mandate to cover the entire transportation and logistics sectors in the country; it is located at the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) in Gujarat, in India. Its new memorandum of understanding with Finnish telecoms vendor Nokia focuses on “transportation and logistics use cases utilizing AI and 5G/6G”, said a statement. The work will make use of Nokia’s so-called ‘Network as Code’ platform and portal.

The ‘Network as Code’ proposition is supposed to help developers and operators produce applications for enterprises and consumers, and to monetize 4G and 5G assets. Nokia has a number of collaborations with the Indian research community. In October 2023, it opened a 6G Lab at its Global R&D center in Bengaluru to “accelerate the development of… [6G] technologies and… use cases… [and to] foster collaboration [with] India’s academic community.”

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the country’s minister for railways, communications, electronics and IT, and also chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, said: “This important collaboration has very significant potential to leverage advances in the telecommunications sector for the entire transportation and logistics sectors. This MOU further reinforces the industry-driven approach of the university to proactively co-work with the industry stakeholders for a Viksit Bharat.” Viksit Bharat is the name for the Indian government’s roadmap to make India into a leading economic power by 2047. 

Raghav Sahgal, president of cloud and network services at Nokia, said: “We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya university to create efficiencies in the logistics and transportation sectors. This agreement reflects how Nokia is driving its strategic focus of leveraging the broader B2B digital ecosystem. With its reputation for stellar research and innovation, Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya will be an excellent partner in pursuing these opportunities while supporting our mutual interests and stakeholders.”