Telangana govt declares 2020 as AI year, signs 8 MoU

Telangana state government on Thursday declared 2020 as the year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and signed eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with various companies and educational institutes to pave way for upcoming technological advancement in the state.

"In line with our vision and our approach, AI will be our focus for the coming year and beyond. While we are calling 2020 as the Year of AI, this event today will set in motion a set of initiatives, which will potentially make the next decade as Telangana's decade of AI. Telangana is ready to capture the global AI opportunity," said Minister KT Rama Rao in a statement.

The MoUs were signed in the presence of Rao and other stakeholders of the AI ecosystem, including academicians, industry leaders, local and national startups, a representative from the Norwegian Embassy.

"Artificial Intelligence can address complex problems beyond the capability of traditional methods and AI holds significance for the government for its potential to transform citizens' lives," the minister said.

Rao also lauded Telangana as a pioneer in IT and innovation, saying that the state is quick to adapt to the needs of the rapidly transforming AI industry.

"In line with the national strategy, Telangana has decided to take on a focused approach for AI and take it to the next level, setting an example for other states to follow suit," he added.

The Minister also said that moving forward the aims of the state are to democratize seamless availability of data by creating population-scale curated public data sets.