Security software and services firm BlackBerry, a brand once synonymous with mobile phones, is expanding its global software innovation network to Hyderabad with an IoT centre of excellence, engineering and innovation.
It will be the second largest IoT division of BlackBerry worldwide, after Canada where the company is headquartered, and by 2023 expected to host more than 100 software engineers in a range of technology positions, including senior management, technical project management, product engineering, cloud software development as well as integration and service delivery.
The expansion will help continue the “rapid growth as an IoT software leader, especially in automotive sector,” said Mattias Eriksson, president, BlackBerry IoT. A milestone in BlackBerry’s ongoing investment in skills and innovation, the move also signifies the importance of India as a home to world-class software innovators, he said in a statement on the new IoT COE in Hyderabad, on March 15.
Recruitment of embedded software engineers, for the centre, has begun and they will help build the next generation of software-defined vehicles and advance innovation in other ‘Internet of Things’, the company said. The teams will be responsible for innovation, embedded software product development and engineering services and first use BlackBerry QNX software development platform to design and accelerate the development of systems. These will include QNX Accelerate initiative, offering QNX in the Cloud to accelerate product development and reduce time to market for a number of industries, including automotive, medical devices, industrial controls, robotics, aerospace, defence and heavy machinery.
BlackBerry IVY software development is planned to roll out later in 2023, bringing developers and OEMs with operations in India closer to the innovation cycle, offering access to benefits such as optimised data processing using on-vehicle machine learning, the company said. BlackBerry said QNX is embedded in 215 million vehicles worldwide, in production with 45 different OEMs and all seven auto tier-1 suppliers globally.
India is an important market for local and global manufacturers in automotive and IoT sectors, particularly Hyderabad and its ecosystem of engineering talent. The new facility will help BlackBerry IoT to co-develop and co-innovate more closely with our customers and partners based in India, Mr. Eriksson said.
The announcement comes ahead of the annual TechForum India event of BlackBerry in Bengaluru on March 29, where the company is expected to unveil plans to scale up operations, to meet growing demand for its embedded software solutions and engineering services, both in India and worldwide.
