Government of India Announces Maiden Summit on Artificial Intelligence to Spearhead Social Empowerment

The Government of India (GoI) announced the mega event, RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020,’ to be held from April 11-12 in New Delhi. RAISE 2020 is India's first Artificial Intelligence summit to be organized by the Government in partnership with Industry & Academia. The summit will be a global meeting of minds to exchange ideas and charter a course to use AI for social empowerment, inclusion and transformation in key areas like Healthcare, Agriculture, Education and Smart Mobility amongst other sectors. Ahead of the summit, MeitY organized an Industry Consultation with industry representatives to bring in synergies within India’s Artificial Intelligence landscape.

The consultation was chaired by Shri. Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary,Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); Shri.Gopalakrishnan S., Additional Secretary, MeitY; Smt. Jyoti Arora, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, MeitY; Shri.Sanjay Goel, Joint Secretary, MeitY; Shri.Saurabh Gaur, Joint Secretary, MeitY and Shri.Abhishek Singh, President and CEO, National e-Governance Division (NeGD) from the Government. Apart from the Government, Industry associations including FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM & NASSCOM and corporates namely Intel, AWS, KPMG, IBM, Oracle and AI startups amongst others participated in the consultation.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri. Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary,Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said,“We are extremely delighted to announce the first of its kind two-day summit- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’. In our opinion, a data-rich environment like India has the potential to be the world’s leading AI laboratory which can eventually transform lives globally. AI technology is a powerful tool that can be used to create a positive impact in the Indian context, further becoming the AI destination for the world.”

Explaining in detail about the first of its kind event, Shri. Abhishek Singh, President and CEO, National e-Governance Division (NeGD), said, “The name ‘RAISE 2020’ came into being because we want to leverage responsible AI practices for enabling the masses. Through this summit we will outline India’s vision for utilizing the power of Artificial Intelligence to responsibly transform the social landscape for a better tomorrow. RAISE 2020 will facilitate an exchange of ideas to further create a mass awareness about the need to ethically develop and practice AI in the digital era."

During session, the Government also launched the AI-Startup Challenge and the event website as a part of championing the AI movement in India.

RAISE 2020 is a first of its kind, global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India's vision and roadmap for social empowerment, inclusion and transformation through responsible AI.  The event will start with a Startup Challenge – Pitchfest followed by the two-day summit, organized by Government of India along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will witness robust participation from global industry leaders, key opinion makers, Government representatives and academia.

Website:http://ai.gov.in/