IIT Hyderabad to collaborate with Telangana Govt on AI Research
Hyderabad: Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad is going to collaborate with the Government of Telangana for research on Artificial Intelligence. The Institute is partnering with the Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITE&C) Department, Government of Telangana, for building/identifying quality datasets, along with third parties such as the industry.
They will also work on Education and Training to prepare/deliver content and curriculum on AI courses to be delivered to college students along with industry participants.
The MoU was signed by Prof B.S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad, and Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government of Telangana, Departments of Information Technology (IT) and Industries and Commerce (I&C) during an event held today (2nd January 2020) as part of ‘2020: Declaring Telangana’s Year of AI’ initiative. Several other MoUs with other organizations were also signed by the Government of Telangana during this occasion.
Highlighting the importance of this collaboration, Prof B.S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad, said, “IIT Hyderabad is a pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence. IIT Hyderabad is the first Institute in the country to launch a B.Tech. program in AI. With a strong base of close to 25 faculty in the Department of AI, IIT Hyderabad is looking forward to such opportunities to come up with many more innovations and research achievements in the field.”
The Telangana government declared 2020 as the ‘Year of Artificial Intelligence’ with the objective of promoting its use in various sectors ranging from urban transportation and healthcare to agriculture and others.
The ITE&C Department aims to develop the ecosystem for the industry and to leverage emerging technologies for improving service delivery as part of this collaboration.
Highlighting the salient features of this collaboration, Dr. Vineeth N. Balasubramanian, Head, Department of Artificial Intelligence, IIT Hyderabad, said, “This collaboration provides us a unique opportunity to leverage our combined experience and expertise in AI at IIT-H for local social good, along with the State government. Having the Government as a partner will allow us an ideal interface to work with industry leaders, startups and colleges in research and training in AI.”
IIT Hyderabad will also assist the Telangana State in developing a strategy for AI/HPC (Artificial Intelligence / High-Performance Computing) infrastructure for various state needs and provide technology mentorship to identified partners for exploring and building AI PoCs (Point of Contacts).
The Telangana State Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Department’s (ITE&C Department) is a Telangana Government department with a mandate to promote the use of Information Technology (IT) and act as a promoter/facilitator in the field of Information Technology in the state and build an IT driven continuum of Government services.
The vision of the ITE&C department is to leverage IT not only for effective and efficient governance, but also for sustainable economic development and inclusive social development. Its mission is to facilitate collaborative and innovative IT solutions, and to plan for the future growth while protecting and enhancing the quality of life.