Union Minister Piyush Goyal Inaugurates Public Systems Lab at IIT Delhi

New Delhi: Stepping towards innovation and advancement in the field of science, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi unveiled a Public Systems Lab (PSL), in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP). Union Minister Piyush Goyal, during the inauguration, said that the lab will be the harbinger of what PM Modi has articulated as the big vision of India.

On Tuesday, the Union Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal, lauded the initiative and said that the launch of lab comes at a time when the country has ushered into its Amrit Kal (75th year of Independence).

Speaking at the occasion, the Union Minister said, "Operations research, artificial intelligence, automation, and other techniques can be key pillars for a transformative change to make India a developed country. This Lab, which we have started today will be the harbinger of what PM Modi has articulated as the big vision of India, a developed nation. The PSL can play a vital role in multiple ways. The public food procurement and distribution are crucial programmes in which this innovation can contribute immensely."

"Today, India is talked of in the world as an emerging superpower, as a nation of startups, a nation of innovators, a nation meeting its SDGs in advance. This Public Systems Lab is a perfect example of innovation that will contribute towards the development of our nation and rid the country of corruption by bringing in efficiency in the Public Distribution System," Goyal said, adding that the initiative is groundbreaking.

The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi have collaborated to establish the PSL for developing scalable solutions for civic systems and services that may impact millions.

Mr. Bishow Parajuli, Representative and Country Director, WFP India, has stated that the partnership between IIT Delhi and WFP India will develop innovative solutions, test them in the live environment, and support their scale-up across India and as well as across the globe.

The PSL aims to work on public systems to enhance their performance and subsequently ensure fundamental levels of wellbeing to a broad cluster of communities using Operations Research, Data Science, Smart Manufacturing, Economics and research in all relevant branches of knowledge. The institute has said that the lab will be a multi stakeholder engaging entity collaborating with government(s), private sector and multilateral organizations in order to develop sustainable solutions in the domains such as Food, Public Transportation, Health and Decision Support Systems for a variety of stakeholders.