The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has launched four new innovative tools to mark their institute’s 30th Foundation Day. These four products are MOSAIC, eVidur, Digitalaya, and PARAM Shavak Deep Learning GPU System all aimed at leveraging the work of researchers and educationists.
Coming from a variety of domains such as bioinformatics, artificial intelligence (AI), big data and digital preservation, they’re being called next generation tools for today as well as tomorrow.
MOSAIC
An abbreviation for Molecular Structure generator in the cloud, the software creates time utility for drug inventors. This tool speeds up the drug discovery process by recycling a drug for various other diseases, commonly known as drug repurposing. This will, hence enable pharmacists to create drugs in a shorter span with comparatively fewer funds. It’ll further assist in identifying accurate drugs and optimum quantity to be used in the making. This new tool, if accepted widely, will enable manufacturers to produce drugs at a reduced cost and at a faster pace.
eVidur
The second product launched by CDAC is a specialized software developed for analyzing the behavior of social media users. This tool currently works only on Twitter, however, the team at Pune is engaged in deploying the software to other social media platforms as well. Detailing the value of eVidur, Dr. Hemant Darbari, Executive Director, CDAC, said,
A software like eVidur can help security officials track and prevent issues. It can also check cyber crime and help us have a better and secure cyberspace.
However, information available on public platforms will only be analyzed with this tool. It will not take into account the information not shared and private.
Digitalaya
The third product in the range is Digitalaya, which is an electronic record management and archival system. The software is developed with a target to build a trustworthy digital repository. You can store spreadsheets, documents, graphs, reports and research papers via the said system in a digital form. Further, detailing this project, Dinesh Katre, associate director and HoD of human-centered design and computing at CDAC, said,
Pilots have already been run with the National Archives of India, National Cultural Audiovisual Archives and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
PARAM Shavak Deep Learning GPU System
This system aims to significantly reduce the training time for a computing system. It is a supercomputer in a box, which is exclusively designed for academic institutions and research organizations that employ deep learning techniques. It presently costs between Rs. 9-15 lakhs and has been developed in collaboration with Nvidia.
Commenting on the product range so launched, Darbari said,
We understand that there are always challenges ahead, but our experience gives us the confidence that we can knock down any challenge to a research problem and solve it. Our four new technologies/ products that are released on the occasion of our 30th Foundation Day are an extension of the same philosophy.
