Hexagon R&D India, IIIT Hyderabad Join Hands to Advance Digital Twin Research

International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) and measurement technologies company Hexagon R&D India have announced a collaboration to advance research and innovation in digital twin technologies.

As part of the partnership, the two organisations will establish the Hexagon Digital Twin Centre of Excellence (CoE) on the IIIT Hyderabad campus. The centre will focus on applied research, education and industry collaboration in areas including computer vision, spatial computing and digital twins, with artificial intelligence (AI) serving as a key enabling technology.

The collaboration will provide students, faculty members and researchers at IIIT Hyderabad access to Hexagon's advanced precision imaging laser scanner, which can be used to create high-fidelity digital twins.

Digital twins are virtual representations of physical objects, systems or environments and are increasingly being used across industries for simulation, monitoring, analysis and optimisation. The new centre is expected to provide a platform for researchers and students to explore practical applications of these technologies using real-world spatial data.

"This collaboration with Hexagon will give our researchers and students access to advanced technologies and real-world spatial data, creating opportunities to take research from the lab to practical applications," IIIT Hyderabad Director Prof Sandeep K Shukla said.

He added that the institute looked forward to building a strong research and innovation ecosystem through the Centre of Excellence. Nora Hollenstein, Vice President, AI Hub at Hexagon AB, said the company has research collaborations across the globe and that she was excited to bring the initiative to India.

"We aim to create an environment where ideas can be tested, and further deep research can help create real-world solutions," she said.

The partnership is aimed at strengthening industry-academia collaboration while enabling research into emerging technologies that combine AI, spatial computing and advanced imaging for real-world applications.