About Us
The Industry Academia Research Collaboratory for India (IARCI) is an independent platform that bridges the Indian IT industry, international scholars, and Indian academic research. IARCI provides interactive support that enriches both academics and practitioners in knowledge acquisition, research publication, and end-use applications. By connecting international scholars, Indian IT industry and consulting firms, and Indian academic scholars on a shared Industry-Academia-Research Collaboration platform, IARCI advances intellectual capital, produces high-quality research, and helps solve grand challenges of shared value to industry and academia. IARCI is a program offered under aegis of the Association for Information Systems (AIS).
India has become an acknowledged leader in the provision of information systems services to firms around the world, and is also emerging as a country with strong information systems research. IARCI works to increase the depth and breadth of joint research between Indian companies and Indian faculty, and to share this research more broadly among Indian firms and with international faculty. As a collaborative platform, IARCI builds a connectivity bridge between Indian industry and academia that provides interactive support to enrich both academics and practitioners in knowledge acquisition, research publication, and end-use applications.
The mission of IARCI is to foster research between academic scholars and companies based in India, and to provide a connectivity platform that better connects scholars in India with the global community of information systems (IS) scholars. The program includes fellowships, travel reimbursements, workshops, stipends, and program management to support this mission.
A goal of IARCI is for IS academic research in India to become world renowned.
FAQ
Who can join IARCI?
Companies become members by paying an annual fee. Two tiers are available: Base and Premier.
What are the membership fees and key benefits?
Base: $35,000/yr. Premier: $50,000/yr. Both get all white papers/reports, access to research teams, and software prototypes. Premier also gets one seat on the Executive Council and 5 conference registrations (space-available extras at added cost).
How are research projects selected and how many run each year?
The Executive Council selects projects proposed primarily by member companies (with additional faculty proposals). Expect 1–3 projects per year, driven by available funds. Typically, one Premier membership enables one project. Each project completes within a year.
Who conducts the research?
Teams of faculty at one or more Indian universities, selected by the Executive Council, and a industry mentor. Additional non-India faculty may be recruited to assist.
What is the Executive Council and what does it do?
It includes the three administrators, reps from 3–5 universities, a TCS representative (founding member), and one representative from each Premier member company. It selects annual projects and sets policy; meets at least twice per year. Delegates may attend if a member can’t.
How do IP and publications work?
Research teams own copyrights, but all IARCI members receive a Creative Commons CC BY license to use reports, software, and IP. Publishing is unrestricted except for an optional 6‑month embargo requested by member companies.
What funding is available for faculty in India?
Fellowship + travel to the IARCI annual conference and an international conference (e.g., ICIS, HICSS, PACIS): approximately $6,000 per faculty member. A $2,500 secondary award is available for publication in FT50 or AIS Senior Scholars’ Premier journals.
What about the annual conference?
IARCI funds one in‑person conference in India each year; estimated cost $5,000–$10,000.
How many people can we send to the conference as a member?
Premier members may send up to five individuals; additional attendees may be allowed on a space‑available basis with added costs covered.