Intel India on Thursday launched Plugin Alliance -- a first-of-its-kind industry-technology alliance -- with a focus on accelerating industry 4.0 transformation in the country.

The Alliance, in collaboration with Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE)-IIT Bombay, aims to bring together members representing large enterprises, small and meQdium enterprises (SMEs), technology solution providers, systems integrators, startups, the startup ecosystem including funding partners, relevant incubators, government, and industry bodies.

Plugin Alliance also aims to advance and scale emerging technology solutions spanning artificial intelligence (AI), machine vision, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), robotics, cyber security, 5G and Edge, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and mobility and other future emerging technologies to help accelerate digital transformation.

"With digitalisation taking center stage across industries and businesses, Intel remains committed to partnering with the India ecosystem to drive digital transformation. Plugin Alliance brings together the key constituents of the ecosystem on one platform to find, innovate, build, adopt and scale smart industrial solutions," said Nivruti Rai, country head, Intel India, and vice president, Intel Foundry Services, in a statement.

"As India enters the 75th year of independence, the launch of this first-of-its-kind initiative marks the beginning of a journey to leverage technology, transforming India into a global hub for smart industrial solutions, and enhancing the competitiveness of our industries on a global level," Rai added.

The Alliance will enable the formation of special interest groups for its industry members to drive innovation and potential adoption of emerging technologies. One of the focus areas would be to curate Industry 4.0 startups for the Alliance members based on their area of interest and priorities.

The Plugin Accelerator programme, which is now a part of the Plugin Alliance, will be available to startups who are members of the Alliance. The Accelerator will draw on domain, technical and business mentors from within the Alliance member community and look at external mentors based on need. The Alliance currently has 53 members including 25 startups.

"The idea of Plugin Alliance could not have come at a better time when the businesses across various verticals are adopting digitisation on priority basis. By bringing industry, academia and startups on the same platform, the process will accelerate for the mutual benefits of the businesses and startups," Rai said.