AI centre to come up in Hyderabad

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, February 21

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) will establish a Centre of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CoE-DS&AI) in Hyderabad in association with the Telangana Government.

An MoU was signed to this effect on the sidelines of Nasscom India Leadership Forum being held in Hyderabad.

The CoE will be established on a public-private partnership model and is the most recent addition to Nasscom’s ‘hub-and-spoke’ network of CoEs across major locations in the country, aimed at evangelizing new and emerging technologies. With an initial joint investment of Rs 40 crore, the centre will catalyze the growth of the deep tech ecosystem, by providing the stimulus for innovation and in-depth research in the areas of data science and artificial intelligence.

Telangana IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan said it was part of the state’s IT policy where it identified data sciences and artificial intelligence as two important areas of focus. “When we came out with our IT policy, we mentioned that we will set up CoEs. I’m glad that the CoE is coming up with Nasscom. The Centre will be initially set up in IIIT-Hyderabad campus. It will help Nasscom partner companies to develop programmes and hold training sessions,” he said.

The IIIT-Hyderabad campus also currently houses startup incubator T-Hub, a public private partnership model initiated by the Telangana Government to encourage technology startups. The CoE will serve as a platform for intelligence-sharing and technology collaboration between stakeholders, to build collective capabilities for the industry and country in the areas of data science and artificial intelligence.

Disruptive tech 

• With an initial joint investment of Rs 40 crore, the centre will provide the stimulus for innovation and in-depth research in the areas of data science and artificial intelligence
• Nasscom chief R Chandrashekhar said India is now on its next growth curve, led by disruptive technologies like data sciences and AI, and the centre would provide solutions to complex problems across the globe.