IITs to develop knowledge hub for Safety Critical Systems

A networked knowledge and research centre aimed at safety and reliability of electronics and hardware will be launched at IIT Kharagpur, a release said on Thursday. HRD Ministry in partnership with the Ministry of Railways, under its IMPRINT programme, is setting up FMSAFE, India's first knowledge centre on Formal Methods on Safety Critical Systems.

MHRD-supported IMPRINT is a Pan-IIT + IISc joint initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges in the country. Formal methods are a new genre of techniques which use logic based on Artificial Intelligence theories to prove the correctness of software and electronic systems before deployment in safety critical applications. A coordinated formal methods programme in India will help indigenous developers to aim for a high safety assurance. "What will be needed is a deep understanding on what is safety critical in Indian operating contexts and developing design and validation practices accordingly. This is what the new centre aims to catalyse," said Pallab Dasgupta, leader of FMSAFE centre at IIT. Agencies