IT Ministry forms 4 groups to deliberate on Artificial Intelligence

The IT ministry has constituted four committees to deliberate on various aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a senior Government official said on Friday.

These committees will examine citizen-centric use of this new-age technology, skilling, as well as regulatory and ethical issues related to Artificial Intelligence.

The IT ministry has been holding a series of high-level meetings on futuristic technologies -- also identified as one of the key thrust areas in the recent Budget -- and emphasis is on pushing research in areas like AI and Internet of Things.

"We have formed four committees on AI. These committees will deliberate on different areas like citizen-centric use of AI, data platform, skilling/re-skilling and Research and Development, as also the legal, regulatory, ethical and cyber security issues," the official said.

The committees include directors of IITs, officials of software body Nasscom, private sector representatives and eminent researchers.

It may be recalled that the Union Budget has stressed on encouraging new-age technologies.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech, had said that the global economy is transforming into a digital economy on the back of development of cutting-edge technologies in digital space, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, Internet of things and 3D printing.

Niti Aayog will initiate a national programme to direct India's efforts in the area of artificial intelligence, including research and development of its applications.

Stating that the Budget announcements have paved the way for the second phase of Digital India, the official noted that the outlay for the flagship programme (Digital India) within IT Ministry has been doubled to over Rs 3,073 crore.

Citing the efforts initiated to promote electronic manufacturing in the country, the official said so far 145 applications with investments worth Rs 25,279 crore have been approved by the government under the Modified Special Incentive Scheme (MSIPS).

"About 82 units have made investments worth Rs 3,833 crore. Mobile phone manufacturing, in particular, has grown at a much faster pace, and today there are about 115 mobile phone and mobile component and accessories manufacturing units in India," the official said.

The total value for mobile phones manufactured is likely to touch Rs 1.32 lakh crore in 2017-18 compared to just about Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15, the official added.

Digital India has also yielded results on ground with marked increase in adoption of applications like soil health card, e-hospitals and others, resulting in digital delivery of services across the country, he pointed out.