IIT-Madras Held The Digital India RISC-V Symposium

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) is organizing the second Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) symposium, a two-day event that commenced on Sunday.

Former Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar noted that India had been systematically strengthening its presence in the semiconductor sector.

Recognized as a leader in RISC-V research and development, the institute has made significant contributions to the Shakti family of processors and has developed India's first indigenous RISC-V-based processor ecosystem. In collaboration with the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and RISC-V International, IIT-M is conducting the symposium at its research park.

The event is set to explore India's semiconductor roadmap and recent advancements in RISC-V-based processor design and open-source hardware innovations. It is expected to bring together experts from India and abroad, along with policymakers, start-ups, academia, and industry pioneers.

RISC-V International, a non-profit organization supporting the open-standard RISC-V instruction set architecture, consists of experts from 70 countries and over 4,200 members who actively contribute to defining RISC-V open specifications. These members are responsible for convening and overseeing various technical, industry, domain, and special interest groups.

IIT-M director V. Kamakoti mentioned that Rajeev Chandrasekhar had introduced the term “Digital India RISC-V.” He explained that the symposium aimed to unite designers, chip architects, product OEMs, and application OEMs on a single platform. Emphasizing the importance of developing a complete microprocessor-based ecosystem within the country, he highlighted the need for India to focus on its semiconductor and electronics industry.

He further pointed out that for nearly 25 years, Indian entrepreneurs, brands, and companies had lagged in semiconductor and electronics development, relying on architectures, platforms, and systems designed elsewhere. While software stacks and application layers had been created domestically, the country now had the opportunity to shape the future, given the cyclical nature of technological advancements. He suggested that India was at the initial stages of the next wave of technological and computational advancements, with the potential to play a crucial role in this domain, particularly through the RISC-ISA and DIR-V programme.

The minister expressed hope that the DIR-V ecosystem would lead to real commercial success and practical applications.