The Indian state of Telangana is on the way to become an Artificial Intelligence research hub as the government of state signed eight memoranda of understanding with various companies and institutes.A Centre for Research in Applied Artificial Intelligence (CRiAA), an R&D Park, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) and other facilities in AI will reportedly come up in Hyderabad, Telangana.

The Telangana government signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with leading chipmaker Intel, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad, IIT Kharagpur and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to set up the CRiAA. This will primarily focus on diagnostics, proactive public health, health services optimisation, evidence-based social strategy and policy, treatment protocols discovery and smart mobility. The center would also conduct research on advanced safety, autonomous navigation, traffic management and smart cities and other areas.

These tie-ups and MoUs come after at an event organized to declare 2020 as the year of AI and make Hyderabad the hub for artificial intelligence.

The Tata Consultancy Services also declared to make investments in the AI domain in Hyderabad. Under another MoU, the NVIDIA will team up with the state government to set up a High Performance AI Computing (HPAIC) Centre, which will assist in startup incubation, and host AI training sessions to support women and minority groups, reports said.

On the other hand, the state in association with IIT Kharagpur has decided to launch an R&D Park and an AI-CoE, with applications in advanced manufacturing, life-sciences and aerospace and defence.

In one another MoU, signed with the Applied Cluster of AI, Norway, is intended to design student and faculty exchange programme with the premier universities of Norway, and soft landing programmes for Hyderabad startups to get access to Scandinavian markets.

Another MoU signed with Wadhwani AI that will implement artificial intelligence solutions for the benefit of expecting mothers and new-born babies. The WAI solution will also be used for agriculture as well as will advise Telangana on using AI to solve intricate social development challenges. Moreover, Computer Software Company, Adobe Systems will help the state in capacity building. It will work to bolster digital literacy and encourage the creativity skills of youth.

Attracting 200 Artificial Innovators and Startups

In a meet organised to announce the Year of 2020, Minister of IT of Telangana K. T. Rama Rao has given an AI roadmap for the State. According to him, the State's primary goals are to lure and enable 200 Artificial Innovators and start-ups to build their base in Hyderabad.

Rao further said the Government expected an additional contribution of 1 percent to the State GDP from the initiatives powered by AI. Also, the government would plan to make high-Performance AI Computing (HPAIC) Infrastructure for startups in order to harness the talent from across the world in AI. This infrastructure would also be available to research firms and academic institutes, reports noted.