Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s announcement of a ‘National Programme on Artificial Intelligence’ ties into an existing programme led by the Union Science Ministry called the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). The latter was cleared by the Union Cabinet last December at a total outlay of ₹3,660 crore for five years.
“Artificial Intelligence is an important component of cyber physical systems,” Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science of Technology, told The Hindu, “However we are yet to identify a centre where this will be hosted.” The budget document made public Friday has allotted ₹5 crore for the year ahead for the mission.
Training for new jobs
Cyber physical systems deal with training youth for new kinds of jobs that would be created due to the destruction of conventional jobs and the mechanisation of jobs. The mission aims to establish of 15 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH), six Application Innovation Hubs (AIH), four Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP). The hubs and TTRPs would connect to academics, industry, Central Ministries and State government in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and other organisations across the country in a hub and spoke model, according to a note from the Union Science Ministry. About 40,000 jobs would be created in the short term and about 2,00,000 in long term, the note adds.
CPS and its associated technologies, include Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of Things (loT), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DP), Big Data Analytics, robotics, quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum encryption (quantum key distribution), Data Science and Predictive Analytics.
Mahesh Makhija, partner and leader, digital and emerging tech, Ernst and Young said: “Artificial intelligence has the potential to deliver large economic and societal impact for India, especially across financial inclusion, healthcare, education, agriculture, and smart cities. National Centre on Artificial Intelligence along with the Centre of Excellence announced by Finance Minister must work on creating data ecosystems, developing talent pipeline, increasing R&D, strengthening data regulations and initiating the AI adoption in government programmes to truly derive its benefits.”
