Chandigarh, November 3: Punjab will have one of the seven centres of excellence for artificial intelligence at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Mohali, which will also offer services related to data analytics, audio visual graphics and Internet of Things (IoT).
“The Centre of Excellence (CoE) will be created with the support of the state government in the startup hub at Mohali. The proposed centre will cater to all teething needs of new ventures,” STPI-Mohali Additional Director Ajay P Shrivastava said.
The decision has been taken after STPI Director General Omkar Rai expressed interest in setting up one such centre near Chandigarh recently.
The centre will cater to startups, researchers, faculties and budding entrepreneurs working in these areas. It will undertake state-of-the-art research projects, develop testing facilities and laboratories for advanced algorithms, application and methods in aid of data analytics and allied areas. It will also offer highly focused courses on AI, data analytics, AVG and IoT to the students and entrepreneurs. It will help in developing application platforms from specific skill development programmes based on industrial needs.
The STPI, a Central government undertaking, provides regulatory support to all IT export units. Currently, there are 140 units registered with the STPI, Mohali. In 2017-18, the software exports were to the tune of Rs 4,300 crore compared to Rs 3,876 crore in 2016-17.
In February this year, Minister for IT and Electronics Ravi Shankar Prasad had announced seven CoEs in the country. The Mohali Centre for Excellence will be one of them. The other centres that have been finalised are Chennai for fintech, Bhubaneshwar for augmented reality, Gurugram for IoT related to agriculture, Lucknow for medical electronics and another for electronics in Bengaluru.
Experts say the focus of the STPI is on the development of tier-II and tier-III cities as potential centres of excellence. With rising costs in tier-I cities, moving to tier-II and tier-III cities has become essential to maintain competitiveness of the industry. The setting up of the CoE will address the issues of the industry.
The STPI’s Mohali incubation facility was inaugurated in 2016. Built at a cost of Rs 60 crore, the new facility is spread over nearly 1.40 lakh sq ft of built-up space and is touted as the country’s largest incubation facility.
Recently, an MoU has been signed between the Odisha government, STPI and IIT Bhubaneswar for setting up a similar incubator for virtual and augmented reality.
Source Tribune India
