Union Minister of State for Electronics, IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Chandrasekhar has said that there is huge potential for growth in the ‘virtual world’ (IT sector) and Visakhapatnam, with its strategic location on the east coast, can play a vital role in this regard.
The Union Minister inaugurated the NASSCOM Centre of Excellence - IoT and AI, virtually from New Delhi, along with Industries Minister Mekapati Gowtham Reddy, at Andhra University here on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Chandrasekhar said Visakhapatnam was one of the four centres in India, where Centres of Excellence for IoT and AI were established. The first was established in Bengaluru four years ago, and it was followed by one in Gurgaon (Haryana), Gandhinagar, and now Visakhapatnam.
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He also spoke about the natural beauty of the beaches in Visakhapatnam, the strong presence of the pharma industry and the AP Medtech Zone (AMTZ), which, he said, had become a role model for other such zones in the country.
Thrust areas
Mr. Goutham Reddy said nine areas were identified for development and they included AI; Machine Learning; Robotic process automation; H Computing (an extension of Cloud Computing); Cyber Security; BlockChain; and Quantum Computing.
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He said the State government was for creating new frontiers in technology, and said a pilot project was being done on ‘Work From Home’. He described AMTZ as a “Kohinoor in the crown of A.P.”
NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh spoke.
Earlier, in his inaugural address, Andhra University Vice-Chancellor P.V.G.D. Prasad Reddy spoke on the strengths of the university in achieving the objectives of the CoE.
He explained that AU would also set up centres for promotion of marine products and Food Technology Lab in the near future.