NPCI Joins Hands with IISc Bangalore for Joint Research on Blockchain and AI Technology

Bangalore, 6th March 2024: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the signing of a multi-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, for conducting joint research on Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. The association will also propel further innovation through the establishment of the “NPCI–IISc Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Deep Tech Research & Development”.

The partnership will focus on scalable blockchain platforms and multi-modal analytics over fintech data. Faculty members from five departments at IISc will work with NPCI researchers on practical challenges related to these areas.

IISc is one of the oldest and premier institutes for pioneering advanced technological research in science, engineering, design and management in India. NPCI’s collaboration with the reputed institute is aimed at solving complex technological and engineering problem statements in the areas of scalability, privacy preserving designs, neural networks, Graph AI, Large Language Models (LLM), etc.

Speaking on the path-defining association, Vishal Kanvaty, Chief Technology Officer, NPCI, “At NPCI, we continuously explore new possibilities to augment the consumer experience by leveraging emerging technologies. This latest development marks an important step towards achieving that goal, and we take immense pride in collaborating with IISc. As our nation progresses towards digital sustainability, we recognize the significant potential for research in deep technologies such as blockchain and AI to further enhance the payment landscape, and we are grateful to have the bright minds assist us in this ambitious endeavour.”

Prof Navakanta Bhat, Dean, Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences, IISc, said, “We are delighted to partner with NPCI in the emerging areas of deep tech and fintech analytics. This partnership will not only foster cutting-edge research and the development of models and software prototypes, but also nurture professional development through workshops and training programmes. We look forward to the exciting outcomes that will emerge from this new Centre of Excellence.”

“The joint research envisioned between NPCI researchers and IISc faculty members working on distributed systems, cryptography and machine learning provides a unique opportunity for translational research that can enhance the scalability and effectiveness of the billion-scale platforms managed by NPCI,” said Prof Yogesh Simmhan, Associate Professor at the Department of Computational and Data Sciences, IISc.