Telangana govt to declare 2020 as the 'year of artificial intelligence'

Move aimed at promoting the use of AI in various sectors, including agriculture, urban transportation and healthcare

The Telangana government will declare the year 2020 as the ‘year of artificial intelligence’ (AI) to promote its use in various sectors, including agriculture, urban transportation and healthcare. State Information Technology (IT) Minister K T Rama Rao spoke of the government's intent at a meeting with Debjani Ghosh, president of the IT industry body NASSCOM, on Friday.

Rao said the government would host a series of events centered around the AI theme throughout the year. "The Telangana government is continuing to attract investment from marquee companies that are setting up their research & development (R&D) and technology development centres in emerging technologies like internet of things (IoT), AI, machine learning, cyber security and blockchain. The government is happy to collaborate with NASSCOM in bridging the skill gap in this emerging technology space," the minister said.

NASSCOM president said the IT industry body was proactively preparing a list of new job roles getting created in the emerging technology space and would be interested in partnering with the state government on the open-date initiative and also in skilling youngsters in data sciences, according the minister's office.