Meta will provide $1 million in funding for 100 Indian developers
- ByStartupStory | November 30, 2022
The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) and Meta on Tuesday announced a partnership for the XR Open Source (XROS) fellowship programme, and Meta contributed $1 million to help 100 Indian engineers working on extended reality (XR). The programme will assist developers in contributing to open-source XR technology projects and provide the groundwork for suitable, cheap solutions localised to Indian languages.
As stated by Nick Clegg, President, of Global Affairs, Meta, “some research that we commissioned from an independent think tank suggests that by 2031, the metaverse economy could be worth about 4.6% of India’s GDP.” Short-form videos make up around 40% of Facebook content, according to Clegg. He went on to say that the shift from text to long-form videos and then from long-form videos to short-form videos is proof of the growth of immersive media formats.
“One corporation won’t be the only one creating the metaverse. We will support Indian developers working on these fascinating technologies through initiatives like XR Open Source. We hope to ensure that the next generation of internet technologies is developed in an open, collaborative, and accessible way with the help of their talent, insight, and effort,” the top executive said.
Run by Ficci, XROS will provide fellowships that include a stipend and mentoring to 100 Indian developers who are working on XR technologies. The XR Open Source programme is Meta’s second effort in India to expand the open ecosystem for creating the metaverse and strengthen the developer community for immersive technologies. Over 10 million students and 1 million teachers will benefit from immersive technologies thanks to a partnership between Meta and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) last year.
XROS is a component of Meta’s global XR Programs and Research Fund, which the company announced earlier this year will provide a $2 million fund for the XR Startup Program with the MeitY Startup Hub. XROS also aspires to establish resources for developers to produce digital public goods and chances for employment in the XR technologies sector. The new fellowship program’s technical partner will be the National e-Governance Division, a project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
“The XROS Fellowship Programme is a uniquely curated initiative aimed at supporting Indian developers to make significant contributions to open source projects related to extended reality (XR) technology,” said Devin Narang, member of the Ficci Committee and country head for India at Sindicatum Renewable Energy. In order to achieve the government’s goal of making India a trillion-dollar economy by 2025, the programme will provide future technology investments with the necessary boost.
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