• Government of Karnataka And NASSCOM partnered to launch Centre of Excellence for Data Science
in Bengaluru
• NASSCOM also signed an MoU with Niti Aayog to collaboratively catalyse innovation in the field of AI
Bengaluru : Reiterating its commitment to nurture innovation in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and leverage the power of Data Science with a vision to bring alive “Intelligence of Things”, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) along with Government of Karnataka, today launched the Centre of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CoE – DSAI), in Bengaluru. NASSCOM also signed an MoU with Niti Aayog to
collaboratively foster applied research, accelerating adoption and ethics, privacy and security. With the aim to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem, the CoE and MoU, both aim to serve as a platform for intelligence-sharing and technology collaboration between stakeholders to build collective capabilities for the industry and country in the cutting-edge areas artificial intelligence.
Supporting the government’s National Strategy for AI, NASSCOM will facilitate collaboration between NITI Aayog and CoEs and will include NITI Aayog as a knowledge partner. Also, leveraging their skilling platform FutureSkills, NASSCOM and Niti Aayog will together accelerate innovation and cultivate skilling in India.
The CoE initiative is a nationwide program on innovation focusing on solutions in Smart Manufacturing, Automotive, Healthcare, Agriculture, Energy, IoT, Banking & Financial Services, Retail, Telecom, and host of emerging technologies. NASSCOM has partnered with Intel and IBM as its founding members and technology advisors for augmenting and accelerating the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence ecosystem in the country. The centre was inaugurated by Mr. KJ George, Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries, IT & BT, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, in the presence of other eminent dignitaries Mr. Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, IT,BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka, Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India and VP, Data Center Group, Intel Corporation, Nipun Mehrotra, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for India/South Asia, IBM,
Gaurav Sharma, Vice President, IBM India Software Labs & IBM India/South Asia Growth along with Debjani Ghosh, President NASSCOM and Rishad Premji, Chairman, NASSCOM.
The CoE-DSAI aims to support SMBs, by fast tracking their product development, provide market access to enterprises and assist them by co-creating programs along with other industry partners and start-ups to solve complex and real world business problems. CoE – DSAI will also work with Government & Enterprises to make available large data-sets for training model, create a technology platform (Cloud + On Premise) with requisite library of solutions and bring experts with deep
knowledge of the business to provide mentorship along with sharing of best-practices. The centre will also partner with universities to develop and provide access to right skill & talent alongside showcasing these emerging businesses across various NASSCOM platforms.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony Mr. KJ George, Hon’ble Minister Large & Medium Scale Industries, IT & BT, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka said “Government of Karnataka aims to transform Karnataka’s economy leading the change through innovation; focusing on technology, productivity, healthy enterprises and better citizen services; while building robust and versatile technology capabilities, spearheading the way to new business opportunities.” Sharing her thoughts, Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said, “Karnataka has led the IT revolution in India and has always been at the forefront of Science and Technology. The Karnataka government is also playing a significant role in fostering entrepreneurial spirit in the state. The Centre is the next logical step required to provide the right fillip to areas of Data Sciences and artificial intelligence and give a head start to, not just the state, but India as a destination to develop global product solutions. The vision behind the CoE is to act as a catalyst for developing the emerging technology startup ecosystem of the country as well as an accelerator of Data Science capabilities providing the concept and scale for industrial and societal needs. The CoE will also function as an
enabler of funding, accelerating, mentoring and enterprise for the key emerging AI startups in the country.”
The Centre of Excellence for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, a collaborative initiative will create a platform wherein stakeholders ranging from industry to academia can co-create digital solutions for Industry 4.0. NASSCOM will work with the industry and government to identify use cases for technology intervention, enable industry-oriented research, augment citizen-centric solutions, promote data-driven decision making, enhance academic capacities, and support appropriate skills building and talent development through the CoE.
