IndiaAI 2023

The seven expert Working Groups being set up by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have submitted the first edition of IndiaAI report which lays out the fulcrum of India’s AI strategy.

• The expert groups have collectively brainstorms on the vision, objectives, outcomes, and design for each of IndiaAI's pillars.

• IndiaAI has a mission-centric approach which ensures a precise and cohesive strategy to bridge the gaps in existing AI ecosystem viz-a-viz Compute infrastructure, Data, AI financing, Research and Innovation, targeted Skilling and institutional capacity for Data to maximize the potential of AI for advancing India’s progress.
• The objective of this initiative is to create a world-class AI ecosystem that pushes the frontiers of AI knowledge creation and innovation in collaboration with industry, national and international academia, start-ups, etc.
• The working groups detailed out the operational aspects of establishing Centers of Excellence (CoEs), and the institutional framework on governing data collection, management, processing and storage by the National Data Management Office (NDMO).
• The report also has recommendations on how India can leverage its demographic dividend and play to its strengths as an IT superpower to further the penetration of AI skills in the country, strengthening the AI compute infrastructure in India to support AI innovation through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Key points:

• The CoEs will promote foundational and applied research in AI to address critical challenges across sectors as well as help commercialise and contextualise existing solutions.
• They will be responsible for setting the agenda and priorities of AI in the sector as well as identifying the key challenges and opportunities in the field.
• The network of CoEs form an essential part of the larger India AI initiative to place the country as a global leader in AI related areas.
• It will provide intellectual impetus to the broad AI ecosystem by contributing to and benefitting from the datasets created, the Data Management Framework, the computing infrastructure, the startup promotion schemes, skilling efforts, etc., that are being built in parallel.
• Overall, it will foster a culture of creativity, experimentation, and entrepreneurship to unleash the full potential of AI in India and pave the way towards becoming a world-leader in AI innovation.
• The CoEs will be established in leading academic institutions selected based on the strength of proposed activities as well as on their expertise in foundational and applied research, track record of success in identified sectors, and the readiness to collaborate with other relevant entities.
• The Government funding for CoEs will be available for 5 years initially, with the industry and other partners starting to contribute from the third year.
• The CoEs will aim for long-term self-sustainability by generating revenue from lab facilities, incubation, training, research, products, and consulting services.
• Each CoE will be expected to be 50% self-supporting within 3 years of their establishment, and 100% self-supporting within 5 years.