Centre for Development of Advanced Computing

History

C-DAC was created in November 1987, initially as the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing Technology (C-DACT). In 1988, the US Government refused to sell India a Cray supercomputer due to concerns about India using it to develop nuclear weapons. In response India started development of its own supercomputer, and C-DACT was created as part of this programme.

Dr Vijay Bhatkar was hired as the director of C-DACT. The project was given an initial run of three years and an initial funding of 30,00,00,000, the cost of a Cray supercomputer.

A prototype computer was benchmarked at the 1990 Zurich Super-computing Show. It demonstrated that India had the second most powerful, publicly demonstrated, supercomputer in the world after the United States.

The final result of the effort was the PARAM 8000, released in 1991.

The National Centre for Software Technology (NCST), Electronic Research and Development Centre (ER&DC) and CEDTI were merged into C-DAC in 2003.

Research activities

Originally established to research and assemble High Performance Computers, the research of C-DAC now includes:

• High Performance Computing
• Grid Computing
• Cloud Computing
• Multilingual and Heritage Computing
• VLSI and Processor design
• Embedded Systems
• Speech and Natural Language Processing
• Information and Cyber Security
• Ubiquitous Computing
• Bioinformatics
• Geomatics
• Digital forensics
• Big data analytics
• Blockchain
• Health Informatics
• Quantum computing

Centres

C-DAC branches and training centres include:

• C-DAC Pune (Headquarters)
• C-DAC Mumbai
• C-DAC Bangalore
• C-DAC Chennai
• C-DAC Delhi
• C-DAC Kolkata
• C-DAC Patna
• C-DAC Mohali
• C-DAC Noida
• C-DAC Hyderabad
• C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram
• C-DAC Silchar

Education and training

C-DAC provides several courses in the field of advanced computing and software development. Among these are the HPC certification course- C-DAC Certified HPC Professional Certification Programme (CCHPCP). C-DAC organises advanced computing diploma programmes through the Advanced Computing Training School (ACTS) located all over India. The PG Diploma courses include

• Specialisations in Embedded System Design,
• VLSI,
• Big Data Analytics,
• Geoinformatics,
• Artificial Intelligence

C-DAC has also established Centres of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) abroad under the Ministry of External Affairs' s development partnership projects.

Commercialization

On August 28, 2024, C-DAC and L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It will establish a program for the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies created by C-DAC in the areas of power systems, embedded software, open-source operating systems, high performance computing, and semiconductor design and development. LTSCT will leverage C-DAC's extensive pipeline of in-house intellectual property (IPs), which includes the VEGA processor, to create global product prospects through application design and validation for Field Programmable Gate Arrays. By facilitating the creation of cutting-edge goods and solutions for the automotive, industrial, information and communications technology infrastructure, and energy sectors, the collaboration to create indigenous ICs and SoCs based in Vega is expected to pick up speed.

Products and developments

• PARAM series of supercomputers
• VEGA Microprocessors, India's first indigenous 64-bit Multi-core Superscalar Out-of-Order RISC-V Processor
• M-Kavach 2, an android-based mobile device security solution addressing emerging threats.
• Mobile Seva AppStore, a mobile app marketplace
• Bharat Operating System Solutions, a Linux-based general purpose operating system
• Anvaya, a workflow environment for automated genome analysis.
• Namescape, the search engine for the Aadhaar unique-ID project.
• GARUDA, India's National Grid Computing Initiative
• TaxoGrid, a grid-based molecular phylogenetics and drug discovery system
• GIST, Graphics and Intelligence based Script Technology
• DARPAN, a real time network monitoring, visualization and Service Level Agreement monitoring tool.
• OLabs, an internet based platform for conduct of school laboratory experiments and assessment.
• Punarjjani, a web based integrated assessment tool for mentally challenged children.
• Shrutlekhan-Rajbhasha, a Hindi language speech recognition software application developed by C-DAC in collaboration with IBM
• eSanjeevani, a digital modality of healthcare service delivery.
• e-Pramaan, a national e-Authentication framework for accessing various government services.
• QSim, India's first Quantum Computer Simulator Toolkit in collaboration with IISc Bengaluru and IIT Roorkee.
• CerviSCAN, a Cervical Cancer screening device suite
• The Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition (ASTR) powered solution for Telecom SIM subscriber verification.

Notable researchers and alumnus

• Vijay P. Bhatkar, founding director, recipient of Padma Bhushan award
• Rajat Moona, Director IIT Gandhinagar, former director general of C-DAC.
• Rajkumar Buyya, professor at Melbourne University, formerly worked as a Senior Scientist at C-DAC Bangalore
• Srinivasan Ramani, contributed in bringing the internet to India in 1987 through the academic network ERNET, served as an adviser on UN ICT Task Force, and was the first director of HP Labs, India
• Sudhir P. Mudur, former director of C-DAC Mumbai (erstwhile NCST Mumbai), professor at Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University.
• T M Vijayaraman, head of Persistent Systems's research, formerly worked at C-DAC Mumbai.
• Geetha Manjunath, founder & CEO of NIRAMAI, former member of PARAM development team at C-DAC Pune.
• P Sadanandan, former director of NCSDT (now C-DAC Mumbai).
• M. Sasikumar, former executive director at C-DAC Mumbai and former adjunct professor at IIT Bombay.

Notable awards and accolades

• Award for Innovate for Impact Use , at Global Summit 2025 from ITU AI for Good.
• Manthan Award 2013 for Mobile Tele-Ophthalmology Units, e-safeT, ONAMA.
• Manthan Award 2012 for Interactive Museum, Megh Sushrut, National e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway.
• National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, 2012
• Skoch Digital Inclusion Award, 2011

Other projects

• e-mahashabdkosh

References

References

1. "Officials in C-DAC { As on 7.4.2022 }". Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.
2. (19 April 2017). "C-DAC Memorandum of Association".
3. Nolan, Janne E.. (1994). "Global engagement: cooperation and security in the 21st century". Brookings Institution Press.
4. (13 January 2017). "The Little Known Story of How India's First Indigenous Supercomputer Amazed the World in 1991". [[The Better India]].
5. Rajaraman, V.. (1999). "Super Computers". Universities Press.
6. (19 May 2003). "Merger of IT R&D bodies: a sign of the times". Express Computer.
7. (26 October 2004). "New domain name registration policy soon". The Economic Times.
8. Unless otherwise indicated, sourced from [http://cdac.in/index.aspx?id=contact C-DAC: Contact] (cdac.in)
9. (8 September 2008). "C-DAC launches country's first HPC certification in high performance computing". [[The Times of India]].
10. (22 September 2021). "C-DAC launches technical courses for students {{!}} Patna News". The Times of India.
11. "Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) {{!}} Namibia University of Science and Technology".
12. (21 June 2019). "Centre for Excellence in IT formally launched". [[Stabroek News]].
13. (8 August 2018). "MoU Signed for a New Centre of Excellence in IT". [[Fiji Sun]].
14. (6 June 2023). "Jaishankar inaugurates IT Centre at Namibia University, meets Gujarat's diamond businesses". [[India TV]].
15. "L&T Semiconductor Technologies Inks MoU with C-DAC".
16. (28 August 2024). "L&T Semiconductor, C-DAC sign pact to jointly work on indigenous chip tech".
17. (13 August 2021). "PARAM 8000: The Incredible Story of India's First Supercomputer". India Today.
18. (18 August 2020). "IIT Madras, CDAC jointly develop microprocessors". [[The Economic Times]].
19. (30 March 2022). "C-DAC Pune to launch three new security products". [[Hindustan Times]].
20. (18 March 2021). "Govt keen to develop, strengthen own mobile app store: Ravi Shankar Prasad". [[Business Standard]] India.
21. (12 January 2015). "Government's BOSS move: Now a homegrown system to run computers". The Indian Express.
22. (2012). "Anvaya: a workflows environment for automated genome analysis". Journal of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.
23. (2 April 2011). "Two new software tools from C-DAC". [[The Times of India]].
24. (18 Dec 2007). "Garuda, the nationwide computer grid, takes wing". Livemint.
25. "GARUDA". CTWatch.
26. (5 April 2011). "C-DAC launches two products". [[The Indian Express]].
27. (3 October 2018). "The unique challenge India presents to natural language processing". [[Business Today (India)]].
28. "Darpan". CDAC.
29. (5 September 2015). "Science teachers to be trained in digital learning". The Hindu.
30. "Punarjjani". CDAC.
31. "IBM IRL News/Success stories - India".
32. (4 May 2020). "Working from home, Punjab developers launch India's largest online OPD". The Indian Express.
33. "What is e-Pramaan?". epramaan.gov.in.
34. (8 July 2022). "Meri Pehchan: Relief from multi-login credentials on government platforms". [[Times Now]].
35. (28 August 2021). "IIT Roorkee, IISc Bangalore, C-DAC Develops India's First Quantum Computer Simulator Toolkit". NDTV.com.
36. (5 March 2023). "C-DAC signs ToT pact for cervical cancer screening". The Times of India.
37. (27 April 2023). "Cops use AI to detect 2.25 lakh benami SIM". [[Ahmedabad Mirror]].
38. (27 May 2023). "Explained {{!}} Will facial recognition AI tools help detect telecom fraud?". [[The Hindu]].
39. "List of Padma Shri award recipients". Government of India.
40. (20 September 2022). "IIT Gandhinagar appoints Prof Rajat Moona as new Director". The Indian Express.
41. "Home Page of Professor Dr. Rajkumar Buyya".
42. (February 2002). "Srinivasan Ramani: Innovating for India". HP Labs.
43. "HP Labs India: Past Directors".
44. "Faculty: Mudur, Sudhir P.". Concordia University.
45. "About: Management Team". Persistent Systems.
46. (24 June 2021). "Geetha Manjunath". [[Stanford University]].
47. (14 August 2015). "The story of how the Internet came to India: An insider's account". [[News18]].
48. "People - Faculty - Adjunct {{!}} Educational Technology". [[Indian Institute of Technology Bombay]].
49. "Global Recognition at AI for Good Global Summit 2025". C-DAC.
50. "Mobile Tele-Ophthalmology Units".
51. "e-SafeT".
52. "ONAMA".
53. "Interactive Museum : e-Culture and Heritage".
54. "Megh Sushrut : e-Health".
55. "National e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway : e-Infrastructure".
56. (3 December 2012). "List of Awardees of National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disability, 2012". [[Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment]].
57. (13 September 2011). "C-DAC bags Skoch Digital Inclusion Award for two projects". [[The Indian Express]].
58. (1 July 1998). "God, Man And Machine". Outlook Business.
59. (1989). "La nouvelle politique industrielle : le cas de l'informatique". Tiers-Monde.
60. (2004). "Proceedings. 10th IEEE International Workshop on Future Trends of Distributed Computing Systems, 2004. FTDCS 2004".
61. Beary, Habib. (1 April 2003). "India unveils huge supercomputer". BBC News.