The Smart City Research Centre at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) and Kakinada Institute of Engineering and Technology have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Smart City Living Lab on the KIET campus and, in time, extend its solutions across Kakinada.

Witnessed by Kakinada district collector Sagili Shan Mohan, the agreement creates a shared environment where students, researchers and city officials can co-develop and trial technologies such as crowd-monitoring analytics, digital-twin water networks, and a scalable City IoT operating platform.

The partners will use the campus as a real-world test bed, run workshops and internships, and identify projects that deliver measurable urban benefits in line with the Kakinada Smart City Mission.

IIITH chief technology architect Anuradha Vattem said the collaboration will transform academic research into practical tools for safer, more efficient cities, while local administrators have already requested pilot projects in crowd management. The initiative signals a fresh alignment between academia, government and industry to speed up sustainable urban development in Andhra Pradesh’s port city.