Bureaucrat stresses the need to develop roadmap for AI

KOHIMA — With the increase in potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolutionising various sectors, the principal secretary of Science and Technology department, Himato I Zhimomi, on Thursday highlighted the need for developing a roadmap for Artificial Intelligence in Nagaland.

He stated this during a seminar on “1st round table talk on AI” to deliberate on the latest trend on AI and its potential application in the state  held at the conference hall of the Directorate of Science and Technology, Kohima.

“As far as the government is concerned, it is looking at certain parameters and measures to be brought out in regard to AI in Nagaland as there is a need to have a roadmap for the state,” he said.

He stated that it is important to guide the people and suggest to the private sectors which direction the people should invest on. He added that it needs to be able to provide concrete direction and to be on the job market on what AI can do and in the next decade on.

To the makers of AI, he posed as to what is it that the government can do to help the people to get into this business while adding that software and hardware are two aspects to look at. The officer asked whether Nagaland can aspire to become a hardware producing state and challenged the young minds to find out the feasibility.

Emphasising on the importance of AI’s impact to the people and society, he also suggested for introducing concrete suggestions in relating to safeguards.

The director of Nagaland Science Mission (NSM), Dr. Nesatalu Hiese, said the mission aims to promote research and development in location specific research areas, which has relevance to state’s priority and potential to bring about sustainable development vis-à-vis creating scientific temper on the emerging technologies in the state.

The “1st round table talk on AI” is one of the objectives of the Nagaland Science Mission (NSM), a mission commissioned by the department of Science and Technology to foster Science and Technology development in the state.

The ex-officio director and joint secretary of Science and Technology department, Zeneikhono Vimero, said the state government has a future for economic growth and is carrying forward through various aspects including scientific and technological innovations. She added that one of the main focuses is to open hub centre for AI in the state. 

Resource persons namely Prof. Samarendra Dandapat, professor of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati; Dr. Anuja Pandey, programme director of PGCMIT Head India Case Research Centre-ICRC All India Management Association (AIMA) New Delhi; and Ajit Kumar Ranjan, deputy secretary of Sixteenth Finance Commission, Ministry of Finance, spoke on AI-related applications and its tools in the country.

The talk also featured case studies, challenges and limitations, future course of actions and collaborations for effective implementation in the state.