The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) is an Indian Government owned telecommunications technology development centre. It was established in 1984 with an initial mandate of designing and developing digital exchanges. C-DOT has expanded to develop telecom equipment, both wireless and wired, since the 1980s. It has offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. It is one of the few government organisations in India which have been appraised at Maturity Level 5 of CMMI-DEV v1.3.

In February 2014, United Telecoms Limited, the technology licensee of CDOT, had won a GPON order from BBNL to a value of approximately Rs 1000 Cr. This is the biggest win by any CDOT partner in global competitive bidding in recent years. For the same project National Optical Fibre Network, C-DOT won the NMS tender. CDOT has contributed significantly to the telecom sector, and it is known as the temple of technology in India.

Presently, CDOT is implementing Common Alert Protocol for India by developing a location-based Integrated Disaster Early Warning System for the National Disaster Management Authority. In this project, Forecasting agencies like IMD, CWC, INCOIS, GSI, SASE, and national to state-level disaster management authorities in a common platform for the dissemination of early warnings for cyclones, floods, thunderstorms, sandstorms, tsunamis, landslides, and avalanches to the public over multiple media like mobile, internet, TV, radio, social media, etc. With the completion of the project, it will not only save precious human lives but also make the country disaster-resilient.

The Centre for Development of Telematics was established in August 1984 as an autonomous body. Its goal was to develop telecommunication technology to meet the needs of the Indian telecommunication network.

Sam Pitroda started the C-DOT as an autonomous telecom R&D organisation. In the initial years, a telecom revolution in rural India was responsible for all-around socio-economic development through global connectivity. As part of its development process, C-DOT spawned equipment manufacturers and component vendors. Research and development facilities were located at its Delhi and Bangalore campuses.

Within a short time, telecom switching products suited to Indian conditions appeared in the form of small rural automatic exchanges (RAXs) and medium-sized switches as SBMs for towns. This was followed by higher-capacity digital switches known as main automatic exchanges (MAXs). C-DOT technology spread across the country through its licensed manufacturers..

Beginning with digital switching systems, C-DOT developed products for optical, satellite, and wireless communication from circuit switching technology, ATM, and next-generation networks. From a purely hardware development centre, it diversified into development of telecom software like IN, NMS, Data Clearing House and from a protected environment of a closed market to an open and competitive market.

While developing the RAX/MAX digital switches, C-DOT also evolved processes and procedures for manufacturing the switches in Indian factories, which set up an Indian manufacturing vendor base. Later, C-DOT projects included central monitoring systems for telecom security for the Indian government.