Nasscom Opens Centre for Data Science & AI in Bangalore

In July last year, Karnataka state government had announced that it will set up a Centre of Excellence for data science and artificial intelligence (AI) along with Nasscom as its programme and implementation partner.

In a continuation to this, NASSCOM on Thursday announced that it has opened a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Bangalore.

The centre was set up in collaboration with the Karnataka government with an aim to nurture innovation in emerging disruptive technologies such as AI and to leverage the power of data science, Nasscom said in a statement here.

"Karnataka has led the Information Technology (IT) revolution in India and the state has also been fostering entrepreneurial spirit. The centre is the step required to propel the data sciences and AI to make India as a destination for global product solutions," Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh said on the occasion.

Additionally, NASSCOM has also signed an agreement with government think-tank NITI Aayog to collaboratively foster applied research, accelerating adoptions and ethics, privacy and security. Notably, in May, NITI Aayog has joined hands with tech giant Google to stimulate growth in India's nascent artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning ecosystem by working together on several initiatives in the two areas.

The new centre launched aims to support small and mid-sized businesses by fast-tracking their product developing and providing market access.

It will work with governments, and universities to provide the emerging businesses with required mentorship, talent and skills.

"The centre will create a platform for industry to academia to co-create digital solutions for Industry 4.0," the statement added.

Karnataka IT, Biotechnology and Science and Technology Minister K.J. George, Intel India's head Nivruti Rai, and Nasscom Chairman Rishad Premji were among the others present on the occasion.

In September 2017, Karnataka state government had also announced that Bengaluru will soon have India’s first multi-faceted artificial intelligence and robotics centre to be established in IIIT-Bengaluru campus.

To recall, NASSCOM had earlier announced that it will establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Hyderabad, in partnership with the Telangana government. However, the launch of same is unknown to date.

NASSCOM's CoE initiative is a nationwide program on innovation focusing on solutions in Smart Manufacturing, Automotive, Healthcare, Agriculture, Energy, IoT, Banking & Financial Services, Retail, Telecom, and host of emerging technologies.

In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's first AI research centre for social good followed by announcement made by tech giant Adobe to establish an AI Lab in Hyderabad.

Source - Business Standard

[Top Image - uk.PCMag.com]

NASSCOM To Setup CoE for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Hyderabad

Future of India wil definitely be bright in coming days, as far as adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) kind of new-age technologies is concerned. To recall, few days back Maharashtra govt. announced to bring India's first artificial intelligence centre in Mumbai, followed by announcement made by tech giant Adobe to establish an AI Lab in Hyderabad.

Now in a latest development, IT industry’s apex body Nasscom, in partnership with the Telangana government, announced that it will establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Hyderabad, reported BGR. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) held in Hyderabad.

The CoE for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DS & AI) will be established on a public-private partnership model, which is the most recent addition to NASSCOM’s ‘hub-and-spoke’ network of CoEs across major locations in the country, aimed at evangelizing new and emerging technologies.

The DS & AI CoE will be temporarily come up in the campus of Hyderabad's International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and will be later shifted to Data Analytics Park to come up at Budvel, which is on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Telangana govt and Nasscom will jointly invest ₹40 crore, initially for the CoE. Notably, an MoU was signed by Telangana’s Information Technology Secretary Jayesh Ranjan and Nasscom President R. Chandrasekhar in the presence of Telangana IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao.

The upcoming DS & AI CoE will catalyze the growth of the deep tech ecosystem in Telangana, by providing the stimulus for innovation and in-depth research in the areas of data science and artificial intelligence, said the officials to a national daily.

Leveraging its partner and member ecosystem, Nasscom will work to enable industry-oriented research, augment citizen-centric solutions, promote data-driven decision making, enhance academic capacities, and support appropriate skills building and talent development through the CoE.

Recently, India’s IT ministry has also constituted four committees to thoroughly study on various aspects of Artificial Intelligence for citizen-centric use.

Last July, Karnataka state government had too announced that it will set up a Centre of Excellence for data science and artificial intelligence along with Nasscom as its programme and implementation partner.

In September 2017, Karnataka state government had too announced that Bengaluru will soon have India’s first multi-faceted artificial intelligence and robotics centre to established in IIIT-Bengaluru campus.

Top Image - sci.aalto.fi

Snapdeal Establishes Its US Based Data Sciences Center in California

Snapdeal, Indian online marketplace, announced the establishment of its Data Sciences Center in San Carlos, California. The center is home to veteran data scientists from leading global brands like Groupon, Google, Yahoo and Amazon and is headed by Nitin Sharma, Senior Vice President, Data Sciences.This is in line with the company’s vision to onboard top global talent to help build high-value solutions and develop a high impact growth strategy.

The center will focus on big-data and advanced analytics to add granular clarity to Snapdeal’s consumer-centric initiatives. It will help shape the business strategy of the company and optimize the operational efficiencies using data driven algorithms, data analytics and predictive modeling.

Rohit Bansal, Co-Founder, said, “We have set up a Data Science engine in California, which is home to domain talent, to further augment our efforts in creating a superior customer experience and strengthen our supply chain. Snapdeal is extensively working on data mining through an existing analytics team. Under Nitin’s leadership the data science team will focus on elevating Snapdeal’s growth-focused strategy and to provide insightful guidance. The richer understanding of the customers by capturing and integrating the information on their buying behavior will drive habit commerce and is in sync with our vision of 20 million daily transacting users by the year 2020.”

“We have a highly accomplished team which can distil key patterns, consumer preferences and hidden correlations by quickly analyzing huge quantities of data. We will bring fresh insights to the existing work and will enhance customer experience through better planning and forecasting,” added Nitin Sharma, Senior Vice President, Data Sciences at Snapdeal.

Snapdeal’s vision is to create India’s most reliable and frictionless commerce ecosystem that creates life-changing experiences for buyers and sellers. With millions of users and more than 300,000 sellers, the company is the shopping destination for Internet users across the country, delivering to 6000+ cities and towns in India. In its journey till now, the firm has partnered with several global marquee investors and individuals such as SoftBank, BlackRock, Temasek, Foxconn, Alibaba, eBay Inc., Premji Invest, Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Mr. Ratan Tata, among others.

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