Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL) inked an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu to use the IIT expertise for sustainable and futuristic advancement of Jammu City. The MoU was inked by and exchanged between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) JSCL, Avny Lavasa and Director, IIT Jammu, Prof Manoj Singh Gaur. As per the spokesperson of JSCL, the broader domains of where the professional guidance of IIT Jammu would be co-opted incorporate Waste Management, Riverfront Development, ICT or ICCC integration, City Beautification and Development, Heritage & Tourism, Urban Mobility, e-Governance & IT interventions, Electrical mobility, Energy-saving plans, and any other areas of mutual interest as recognised by JSCL. It has been also agreed in the MoU that JSCL, with the IIT Jammu expertise, will create a robust mechanism for support and services comprising research on Urban Planning and amenities covering academics, consultancy and internship and fellowship for students. According to the MoU, IIT Jammu will allocate staff and faculty as trainers for the studies recognised by JSCL. The institute will promote the identification of global best practices to be adopted by JSCL in citizen outreach programs, research, data assimilation and behavioural assessments areas. IIT Jammu will share information and data and get the support of other educational industries, consultants or research institutions working on the subject in India or overseas for accomplishing the objectives planned by JSCL. It will also render access to the IIT Jammu library and other technical resources to the team members of JSCL or persons recognised by JSCL in obtaining the mutually agreed-upon goals. JSCL shall, on the other hand, render support to IIT Jammu for the conduct of seminars, relevant data collection, citizen outreach programs. It will guarantee participation by UT or Central authorities, public representatives, senior officials of the Jammu & Kashmir government and other shareholders in the programs to be organised by IIT Jammu. JSCL will share any data or information available with various departments of the Jammu and Kashmir government for desirable planning objectives. It will render internships for the students of IIT Jammu and mentorship to external students to work on the smart city and similar projects and help IIT Jammu with all field visits to carry out the responsibilities described in the MoU. Additionally, it was decided that a Joint Working Group (JWG) would be formed to promote the initiation of projects under the MoU. It will have heads and faculty from related departments at IIT-Jammu, and related members from JSCL at similar levels. The MoU will remain in force initially for two years from the date of signing and can be renewed further by mutual consent. Image SourceAlso read: Chandigarh Smart City to set up expert cell for infra projects Also read: Jammu civic body signs MoU with SMVDU for developmental projects