Telangana and Nasscom to set up artificial intelligence centre

The Telangana government has entered into an agreement with IT industry body Nasscom to set up a data science and artificial intelligence centre.

According to The Economic Times, the AI centre, with an initial investment of Rs 40 crore, will be built and run on a public-private partnership model. According to state IT minister KT Rama Rao, Telangana will be the first state to focus on the use of AI in delivering public health care.

“The state government is keen to create a robust data science and artificial intelligence ecosystem for the various stakeholders to thrive, by providing support, mentorship and other capabilities. The centre of excellence, in partnership with Nasscom and the industry, is for developing Telangana and India as a global hub for DS and AI,” Rao told ET.

According to a Gartner report $2.9 trillion in new business value opportunities could be attributed to AI by 2021, as well as the ability to recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity. This would also mean that AI will open up avenues for employment.

“The vision is to consolidate and streamline efforts in this space by building state-of-the-art infrastructure to amplify the impact that India can indigenously create. With the opportunities that digital technologies present, the centre will be strategically placed to provide data-backed solutions to critical and complex problems across the country and globe,” R Chandrashekhar, president, NASSCOM, was quoted by the financial daily.

Wadhwani AI

In a separate development, India’s first AI research institute, Wadhwani AI, opened in Mumbai on Sunday. It will partner with the Maharasthra state government to solve social issues and design solutions that can be adopted at scale.

“Wadhwani AI is a prime example of how the public sector and the private sector can come together with good intentions to build a world-class institute, aimed at benefiting the poor,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the inauguration of the institute.

The institute, founded by Romesh Wadhwani and Sunil Wadhwani, will be headed by founding managing director of Microsoft Research, P Anandan. About $30 million will be provided to the institute over a 10-year period. 

“We will apply AI in all key domains, including education, public health, agriculture, infrastructure and financial inclusion. We hope this will transform how AI research is conducted and applied to help societies throughout the world,” Romesh Wadhwani was quoted in a report.