AIM, NITI Aayog join hands with NASSCOM to roll out AI Modules in Indian schools

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : With a view to empowering the youngest minds of the country with the latest technologies, NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)  launched an AI based Module rolled out for students in Indian schools on February 27, 2020..

The AI-Base Module has been introduced with an objective for students to leverage the full potential of AIM’s Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) and further empowers them to innovate and create valuable solutions benefiting societies at large. The module contains activities, videos, and experiments that enable students to work through and learn the various concepts of AI.

Sharing his thoughts, CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant said that India can add 1.3% to its GDP on an annual basis through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. “Indians can find solutions to the challenges of a shared connected zero emission world, improving learning outcomes, disease like tuberculosis, cancer etc. If we are able to find solutions to these challenges for the 1.3 billion people of India, we can find solutions for the 7.5 billion people of the world too,” he said.

He further added that this AI module will start teaching young children from a very young age and then Indians will become major players in AI, like it has been done in the past for robots, 3D printing, IoT. “This is path breaking, it combines playing and academics and our job is to make things very interesting. We want to make artificial intelligence a great fun, so that children can enjoy it, evolve and learn, and take India forward,” he said, according to a PIB release

Technology innovation over the last decade was breathtakingly fast as industries got intertwined with emerging technologies like never before. It has been estimated that by 2030, the global market in AI is likely to be in the range of 15 to 15.5 trillion dollars of which India’s share will be close to a trillion.

Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, R Ramanan said that AI is going to be an integral part of the new 21st century innovations and we are proud to introduce the Learn-It-Yourself module in all our 5,000 Atal Tinkering Labs with over 2.5 million students having access to it. “This is the first ever industry government academia initiative on such a scale to keep the school students abreast of latest technologies,” he said

Speaking on the collaboration, Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said, “AI has become a strategic lever for economic growth across nations and will continue to be one of the most crucial technologies of the future. Given its impact, it is an embracing step taken by NITI Aayog to introduce the resources for students to learn AI. This will create the right foundations for students, especially the K-12 segment, to onboard future technologies and prepare them fully for the digital and AI era.”

Atal Innovation Mission housed at NITI Aayog is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. At the school level, AIM is establishing ATLs in all districts across India. As of today, AIM has selected a total of 14,916 schools across the country spread across 33 different states and union territories, for the establishment of ATLs.