Industries Minister KT Rama Rao launches three AI projects at IIIT-H

Hyderabad: Heralding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies to address societal problems, Telangana Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao launched three projects -iRASTE Telangana, Bodhyaan Car Platform and MicroLabs at the IIIT-Hyderabad Tuesday. Speaking at the launch, Rama Rao said Telangana has been using technology to reach out to the common […]

Hyderabad: Heralding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies to address societal problems, Telangana Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao launched three projects -iRASTE Telangana, Bodhyaan Car Platform and MicroLabs at the IIIT-Hyderabad Tuesday.

Speaking at the launch, Rama Rao said Telangana has been using technology to reach out to the common man and solve problems at the ground level. Artificial Intelligence remained a priority for business leaders. Use of AI is expected to result in an addition of $957 billion to India’s economy in 2035 or 15% higher Gross value added (GVA).

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The State through its Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK) has so far trained more than 25,000 students and 4,500 faculty members. It now has set a target to train about one lakh youth at high school level in foundation AI courses.

The three projects launched at the Applied AI Research Centre (INAI) are focused on building AI solutions for population scale problems in the Indian context, combining research and translation. These projects have the potential to save many lives either directly and indirectly. Rama Rao assured that Telangana will support the IIIT-H’s Centre for Quantum Science and Computing.

Project iRASTE Telangana (Intelligent Solutions for Road Safety through Technology and Engineering) uses AI and Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS) solutions will transform road safety. This is being taken in collaboration with INAI, IIITH, Intel, Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) and Uber. Predictive insights generated via AI will be used to prevent accidents. TSRTC vehicles that ply on highways are the target fleet for this project, which will also use Uber’s Road Safety Initiatives expertise.

Bodhyaan is a car data capture platform set up at IIIT Hyderabad with multiple sensors – cameras, LIDARs, night-vision cameras, RADARs and will have computational power to capture and process real-time data on the car. Bodhyaan 1.0 is presently equipped with 6 cameras for a full surround view, a LIDAR sensor. Researchers, academics, and startups can use this platform to test algorithms or methods in vehicle navigation, data collection, or anything related to Indian roads and research.

MicroLabs is set up in collaboration with CSIR-IGIB. This will be involved in genomic surveillance for communicable diseases to Point of Care (POC).

“INAI is a collaborative effort between Intel India, Government of Telangana and IIIT-H. It has been driving projects to identify and solve population-scale challenges in healthcare and smart mobility. Our goal has been to enable open platforms to foster innovation, “ said Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India and Vice President, Intel Foundry Services.

Citing one of the observations, she said Nagpur has 30,000 km highways and there is a grey spot at every 50 km. It implies the spot is prone for accidents and using artificial intelligence data corrective action can be taken at these spots to prevent accidents. This will also bring a change in the road maintenance mechanisms.

“We teamed up with Intel and the Government of Telangana to create INAI in 2020. IHub-Data was established by DST at IIIT-H later that year. These entities join forces on three projects in healthcare and transportation areas launched today,” said Prof P J Narayanan, Director, IIIT Hyderabad.