For the first time in the country, academic users in India will be able to access the MATLAB software suite at no cost through the Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map (I-STEM) portal. I-STEM (www.istem.gov.in) is an initiative of Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (PSA, GoI) under the aegis of Prime Minister Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
The software suite is hosted on the cloud server of I-STEM to provide user friendly access from anywhere in India. The arrangement is expected to assist many students and researchers in the country, especially those in the more remote and less-endowed institutions, thereby enhancing learning outcomes and promoting R&D efforts across India.
During Indian Science Congress of 2020, I-STEM portal was launched by the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as the national web portal for sharing R&D facilities. The I-STEM aims to strengthen the R&D ecosystem by connecting researchers with resources, in part by promoting technologies and scientific equipment development indigenously. I-STEM enables access to existing R&D facilities by providing necessary supplies and support to researchers through a comprehensive national web portal. The portal hosts the database of facilities across India so that a researcher desirous of using any of them can search for the same and make a booking online for using it.
Presently, the portal lists more than 25,000 pieces of equipment from 1750 institutions across the country and has more than 20,000 Indian researchers. The portal also features a Digital Catalogue of indigenously developed technologies and products. To enhance R&D collaboration and skill development across the country, I-STEM also hosts the various City Knowledge and Innovation Clusters (https://www.psa.gov.in/st-clusters) – another initiative supported by the Office PSA, GoI on the recommendation of the PM-STIAC.
MATLAB is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by the MathWorks. MATLAB, used by more than 4 million users globally, allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages.
The recording of the launch is available at: https://www.istem.gov.in/support/latest-info/videos