NITI Aayog partner with Intel, TIFR to set up model AI Centre

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 11: Based on NITI Aayog’s ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ objective that focuses on establishing International Center for Transformative AI (ICTAI) in the country through private sector collaboration, NITI Aayog, Intel and TIFR have collaborated to set up a Model ICTAI in Bengaluru.

The partnership is aimed at solving major challenges based AI research in healthcare, agriculture and smart mobility.

Prof Sandip Trivedi, Director TIFR, said, “This collaboration is a very exciting beginning where we plan to bring fundamental and applied research, innovation and technology development together to solve important problems facing our nation with potentially transformative effects on society. There are also a number of important issues related to ethics, privacy, etc. that AI and related technologies raise which are important to address. TIFR is excited to be in this collaboration; this centre will be an important role model for future partnerships between industry, academia and government, which are the need of the hour in our country today.”

The Model ICTAI will bring together the expertise of Intel and TIFR and establish best practices in the domains of ICTAI governance, fundamental research, physical infrastructure, computer and service infrastructure needs, and talent acquisition.

Anna Roy, Advisor, NITI Aayog said, “NITI Aayog had recommended ICTAIs for applied research in AI in the National Strategy Paper. Private sector collaboration is deemed to be essential in making fundamental research get adopted for solving actual problems India faces, especially in the five sectors identified in the paper – Healthcare, Agriculture, Education, Smart cities and Mobility. This collaboration with TIFR and Intel will help us experiment and establish the foundational governance practices required to enable such applied research institutions to succeed in the long term.”

The model Centre also plans to develop AI foundational technologies to promote applied research that can scale for national impact and will lead to the creation of a vibrant and self-sustaining ecosystem.

Another key area of its focus will be the collaboration with industry leaders, startups, and AI services and product companies to productize technologies and IP that are developed at the model ICTAI.

Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India, & Vice President, Data Center Group, said, “Artificial Intelligence is going to be a transformative driver of economic growth and social progress, and Intel’s vision is to drive human-centric AI to benefit humanity in an inclusive manner. In India, through the AI-for-All initiative, we aim to deliver the twin goals of solving hard problems of humanity and helping India achieve its vision of global AI leader, by bringing together a rich ecosystem of research, innovation, technology development and deployment. We take immense pride in being the Industry lead along with NITI Aayog and TIFR, and I believe the model ICTAI will pave the way for application-based AI research and solutions needed in India for critical domains such as healthcare, agriculture, and smart mobility.”