NeGD organises ’AI Pe Charcha’ to underline AI’s importance in Good Governance

AI Pe Charcha

The National eGovernance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) recently organised ‘AI Pe Charcha’ (AI Dialogue) wherein the panellists discussed and shared their vantage points on the significance of data-driven and AI-enabled governance along with the global best practices.

The eminent panellists spoke about the importance of using the right data and how different governments around the world have employed AI to standalone departments and processes for devising prudent policies.

Abhishek Singh, President and CEO, NeGD, in his opening remarks noted that there are ample amount of case studies from around the world on the use of AI in the fields of Healthcare, Agriculture, Skilling, Manufacturing etc. “What is needed is that such solutions become more ubiquitous and benefit people more and more,” he added.

Dr Martin Klein, Global General Manager, Public Services, SAP, Walldorf, Germany delivered the keynote address and shared his views on AI for Public Sector, Defence & Security, Postal Services, Future Cities.

Klien said, “AI-driven governance empowers us with the knowledge of predicting challenges and endows us with the ability to successfully mitigate such challenges; This helps us take actions proactively, draft citizen-friendly policies and also enhance our overall working processes.”

Also Read: MeitY to table proposal for AI-based programmes & Policy for cabinet’s approval

Rahul Lodhe, Senior Director, Engineering, Head of SAP Artificial Intelligence Foundation, India gave a presentation and demo of AI-driven solutions like COVID-19 City-scale simulator and Logistic modelling, Complex Document extraction to Government Resource Planning Systems and Intelligent Accounting Automation –Invoice, Receipt, Accounts Reconciliation using Machine Learning.

Lodhe shared an insightful case study about a project of SAP done in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru on how an AI application helped in predicting the infection spread and impact of COVID-19 in India during the first wave. “Government of India is ready to harness the advantage of AI for building a better nation, especially in the area of social empowerment,” he added.

The AI Pe Charcha series has been initiated as a part of Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE), India’s first global AI summit, which was organised by the IT Ministry in 2020. Such initiatives by the Government of India have commenced a much-needed discourse on AI and would lead to certain positive, tangible meaningful changes in the overall economic and the social sphere.

(With inputs from PIB)