From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Mar 14: Higher Education, IT/BT and Science and Technology Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan inaugurated the ARTPARK Innovation Summit 2022 being held in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru on Monday.

The State Government will contribute Rs 60 crore as seed capital for the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK), which has been set up at the IISc campus, Dr Narayan said adding: ARTPARK has received financial support from AI Foundry.

The minister said the Union Government has also sanctioned a grant of Rs 170 crore for ARTPARK as the research activities were expected to revolutionalise health services, education, communication, infrastructure, retail trade and cyber security sectors. It would help in providing modern skills for students and professionals.

He said the ARTPARK will help in creating job opportunities for the rural youth. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technology sector would touch a trade volume of 15.7 $ trillion by 2030, which would contribute more than six times of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) centres which have sprung up as part of the Information Technology (IT) sector have already hit the top and would even extend to AI and bridge the gap between education and skills, he said appreciating the ARTPARK initiative.

Dr Narayan said technology has made big strides in the human life during the last two decades. Digitalisation and AI are revolutionalising the health services and financial sector. Karnataka has emerged as the home of all the high tech AI and Robotics based enterprises.

NITI Ayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajeev Kumar, who virtually participated in the event, said the country would make rapid strides in development and growth if the hidden talent in the rural and non-metro centres was tapped and properly channeled. Atal Innovation Mission and Start-Ups could give new thrust to the development, he said.

AI and Robotics based exhibition has also been organized at the IISc auditorium as part of the summit, which includes Robots, Drones and even Walking Drones that could be used in hilly and remote regions.

ARTPARK Chief Executive Officer Umakanat Soni, Director Prof Rangarajan, Shubhashish Banerjee, Union Science and Technology Department Secretary Dr S Chandrashekar, Start-Up Vision Group Chief Prashant Prakash, Enterprenerurs Vivek Raghavan, Mohandas Pai and others attended.