IGLUS Centre of Excellence (ICE) – A Smart City Lab was inaugurated at GIFT City today. The centre, which has been instated by GIFTCL in association with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Nirma University, will act as a platform for exchange of knowledge and global best practices about smart city initiatives around the world. As GIFT City is India’s first operational Smart city, ICE will also act as a common hub for global experts and practitioners in the field of sustainable urban planning.
Shri Tapan Ray, MD & Group CEO GIFT City , Prof. Finger Matthias - Swiss Post Chair at EPFL, Dr. Anup K Singh -Director General Nirma University, signed a MoU to initiate the process for incubating ICE at GIFT City.
Speaking about the development, Shri Tapan Ray, MD & Group CEO GIFT City, said, “We are delighted to have the IGLUS-Centre of Excellence at GIFT city. Along with EPFL and Nirma University, we will work towards enhancing the sharing of knowledge and best global practices about Smart City. As India’s first operational Smart City, it is imperative to have a common platform setup in GIFT City to further strengthen the implementation of smart and sustainable urban planning in the context of developing nations.”
Apart from providing platform for exchange of ideas and best practices on smart cities between parties of ICE, the centre will connect experts from its global network, provide Smart City consultancy services and organize joint events/conferences/ workshops and regional trainings on the smart city topics.
Sharing his thoughts on the centre, Prof. Finger Matthias - Swiss Post Chair at EPFL, said, “IGLUS has long been looking for a competent partner to put smart city concepts into practice, and we have found in GIFT City together with Nirma University. We look forward to learning from the concrete experiences so as to refine our thinking and approaches for the benefit of GIFT City, other smart cities in India and the world". “
To mark the inauguration of the centre, first Conference on “Planning for Sustainable and smart Cities in India” by ICE will be held on 28 Jan 2020 at Nirma University.
Speaking about the initiative Dr. Anup K Singh -Director General Nirma University, said, “This initiative will greatly benefit all the institutes and particularly Nirma university. It will help in carrying out research in the field of sustainable cities and urban design framework for our faculty and students. There will be opportunities for short courses and carry out consultancy all over the world through a multidisciplinary team.”
The centre will focus on topics, such as sustainable built environment, innovative governance, management, finance, social and informal sector, transportation, infrastructure, real estate and town planning.
