Puducherry's taking a big leap with its new Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (AI CoE),aiming to shake up tech scene and spark innovation. Under India AI Mission,this project wants to boost AI skills in health,agriculture,urban development .
Directorate of Information Technology (DIT) has put out an Expression of Interest (EoI),seeking partners from corporate,academic,research sectors to get on board. Project costs ₹20 crore . Split: 40% from Government of India,40% from Union Territory of Puducherry, rest from industry or academic partners.
AI CoE plans 12,000 square foot facility, possibly at Puducherry Technological University or MSME Centre. Packed with tech like GPU servers,high-end desktops,laptops,dedicated network connectivity. It's set to be hub for applied research, AI skill development,startup incubation,government AI solutions.
Main aim? Build strong AI computing infrastructure to drive product development and pool essential datasets for different uses. It will stress ethical AI and focus on workforce upskilling,reskilling,promoting AI entrepreneurship .
Use cases touch many sectors. Healthcare will see diagnostic support,epidemic prediction,hospital re-analysis. Agriculture plans crop surveys,pest detection,soil monitoring with satellite,drone imagery. Other focuses: tourism crowd management,traffic optimization,smart governance.
Officials say it's not just research but a practical tool to boost public service delivery,data-driven decision-making. Center's ambitious annual goals: incubate 24 startups,develop 30 prototypes,create 300 jobs,hold eight hackathons,publish 20 research papers. Can they hit those targets? Time will tell…
