Minister Nara Lokesh prolonged his Australia tour with a visit to University of New South Wales (UNSW) at Randwick, Sydney. The university leaders welcomed him warmly. The Minister interacted with senior managers and researchers during his visit and talked about new pedagogy approaches, teacher training, and renewable energy courses.
Minister Lokesh proposed double degrees and student exchange programs for students between UNSW and Andhra Pradesh universities. He proposed skills development courses to prepare youth with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy.
He wanted to establish universities in Andhra Pradesh to collaborate with UNSW to conduct joint research on sustainable water management and sustainable agriculture. The interest is in obtaining solutions for environmental issues in Andhra Pradesh.
Minister Lokesh highlighted the UNSW capability in solar and wind energy technology. He proposed joining hands with Andhra Pradesh universities to innovate and study renewable energy. He also proposed innovation hubs to be set up with support from the UNSW Michael Crouch Innovation Centre to enable local Andhra Pradesh startups to grow their business.
The minister stressed joint R&D and technology transfer among UNSW and Andhra Pradesh's manufacturing and IT sectors. The minister also made a mention of joint working on telemedicine and public health projects to provide medical facilities to rural areas.
Minister Lokesh proposed joint efforts on smart city and green urbanization projects. He asked UNSW assistance in the shape of knowledge in the realm of data-driven governance and public policy management to improve administrative efficiency in Andhra Pradesh.
