36th Annual Report (2023-24)

39 undertake these programs at three different locations in and aroundPune. Biomasswhitepaper: PKC, alongwith partner organizations is in a process of creation of white paper for increasing biomass on degraded and fallow lands, to augment the green energy demands of the nation. The aim is present this white paper to relevant stakeholders for conversion into a policy document. Water Action Plan for Pune Metropolitan Region: Aligned to the National Water Mission, PKC is preparing a sustainable water Management Plan for the Pune Metropolitan Region, comprising of comprehensive information on priority issues, and available resources (human, technical and financial), and mapped solutions. A digital decision-making support system will also be created using time-series and real-time absolute data, GISmaps, and analytics. For this, a feasibility study has been started for PCMC, in collaborationCPC analytics. Hydrogen Valley in Pune region: PKC is working towards developing a Hydrogen Cluster in Pune region to foster collaborations between industries and R&D organizations for developing technologies for Green Hydrogen production, storage, transport and capacity building. Work with local administration: PKC works actively with PMC, PCMC and Pune Zilla Parishad to serve as a knowledge partner for technology evaluation, project feasibility studies, and creating plans for implementing water conservation, and bio- energy projects inPune and its surrounding villages. Partners: Pune Smart City, CEE India, WRCS, Genesys, Maharashtra Forest Department, Samuchit Environment, Gokhale Institute of politics and economics (GIPE), CPC Analytics, Kishore Pumps, Biofuel circle, Bhartiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF), CSIR-NCL, IORA Ecological Solutions Pvt. Ltd., CDSA, ACWADAM, DHI (Denmark), Water Valley Denmark, CleanCluster, DTU (Denmark) KeyFutureplans: Centre forWater – Building a Centre for watermanagement, technology deployment, and policy in collaboration with Water Valley, Denmark CoE for Carbon Sequestration & Renewable Energy – Building a centre of excellence focused on increasing urban/peri-urban and rural vegetation cover for carbon sequestration, developing technology-based plantation models and citizen engagement programs, piloting technologies for biofuels production PKC's Sustainable Mobility vertical aims to apply scientific and ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ III.SustainableMobility ¬ technical tools to address the rapidly growing and changing mobility requirements of the city. We wish to support the development of sustainable solutions toward carbon-neutral transportation. Working towards the Smart City Mission of GoI, the Pune City administration is encouraging and enabling sustainable modes of mobility in the city. In this regard, PKC has the following programs in the pipeline. Vehicle E-Waste Recycling –Projects are being conceptualized with technology providers and the auto industry to pilot novel technologies for vehicle E-waste recycling at the city level through public-private partnership models. Charging Infrastructure Mapping using Pune Digital Twin – In partnership with TCS Pune Digital Twin, PKC wishes to map and plan locations for EV charging infrastructure in the city. Behavioural Nudges for Sustainable Transportation – In Partnership with PMPML, this program aims towards increasing the ridership of public transport in Pune, in order to combat traffic congestion and air pollution Partners: Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Center for Materials for Electronics Technology (CMET), C4i4, Society of Automotive Engineers, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) This vertical enables the development of various AI-driven platforms for basic and applied research. Large-scale citizen science programs are being developed to involve citizens in analyzing BIG scientific data to foster scientific temper. One such program is called One-Million Galaxies where 1700+ citizens have analyzed over 2 GB of data (images of galaxies) on PKC's platform. PKC is also trying to develop AI algorithms based on citizens' response. Apart from this, PKC is building collaborative projects between BIG Data and AI experts, chemists, and biologists to encourage inter-disciplinary research; and building an open-access dataset where capabilities of differently abled citizens will also be leveraged to collect scientific data. Partners: CODATA, IUCAA, Univ. of Southampton, IIA Bangalore, HBCSE Mumbai, Nehru Planetarium Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium Bangalore, Jyotirvidya Parisanstha Pune, Khagol Vishwa Pune Aligned with the Skill India Mission, the capacity-building vertical of PKC aims to provide new opportunities to students, ¬ ¬ ¬ IV.BIGData&Artificial Intelligence V. CapacityBuilding