NEC Corporation of Japan has announced the establishment of NEC Laboratories India (NLI), a solutions and technology research and development centre in Mumbai, aimed at the global expansion of its ‘solutions for society’ business.

The new laboratories will be established in July 2018 within NEC Technologies India Pvt Ltd (NECTI), and Akihiko Iketani, senior manager, Central Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation, is slated to lead operations.

“We need to take a long-term perspective and address community-based research and development activities to win the confidence of local customers and partners. The establishment of a research and development site in India, where there is a wealth of IT talent, will enable us to create solutions that are valuable for the whole world through agile research and development,” said Motoo Nishihara, senior vice-president, NEC Corporation.

By employing highly skilled IT talent and conducting joint research with academia, customers and partners, NLI will promote the agile development and commercialisation of solutions for India and other emerging countries in collaboration with NECTI’s Centers of Excellence.

Aiming to launch new business utilising local knowhow and big data, which are acquired through existing business and partnerships, such as system integration for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in India and logistics visualisation services, NLI will engage in the creation of new solutions in the fields of public transportation and logistics, public safety, digital government and cashless payment.

While GDP growth in India is between 7 to 8 per cent on average, the country’s ICT market is expected to achieve annual revenue of $51 billion by 2020, becoming the largest market in the Asia-Pacific region. Moreover, in support of developing a liveable and sustainable society, the Centre is looking to invest $50 billion annually in smart cities projects. Coupled with this, the increasing need for anti-terrorism measures has caused a sharp rise in demand for public safety solutions.

Positioning the safety business as a global growth engine in its ‘Mid-Term Management Plan 2020’, covering the three-year period until FY2020, NEC aims to promote the expansion of the ‘NEC Safer Cities’ business, including public safety, digital government and smart transportation.

As part of these efforts, NLI will accelerate and strengthen the development of solutions for society and promote the spread of solutions from India to other emerging countries, while blazing a successful path of reverse innovation to markets throughout the world.

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