“Non personal and anonymized datasets will be used for AI research and this will be sourced from the respective ministries,” the Department of Electronics and Information Technology said on March 14 in response to MediaNama’s Right to Information (RTI) query on the type of datasets that will be used for research on artificial intelligence in India. The RTI, filed on February 13, inquired about the ways in which the government was planning to expand the INDIAai initiative in order to boost innovation in the AI sector. INDIAai is the national AI portal of India established by the IT Ministry, National eGovernance Division and NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies). It is a one-stop platform or a “unified AI ecosystem” providing all resources on AI developments in India and the world for entrepreneurs, students and academics among others. Why it matters: In the backdrop of presiding over the Chair at the Global Partnership on AI, the Indian government is boosting discussions on leveraging AI for governance. The government is seeking to upgrade INDIAai to keep pace with the new developments in the AI space. The RTI sought to understand the direction the project is headed towards and to know what kind of datasets are used as foundational resource for further research. Bringing Indian tech startups onboard: The government is deliberating on working with Indian tech companies, start-ups and academic institutions to expand the INDIAai initiative under a “comprehensive AI programme” comprising the National Data Governance Framework Policy (NDGF) and…
