Andhra Pradesh set to become an incubation hub: Mekapati Goutham Reddy

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh will be created as an incubation hub. With nine technologies in place, they are going to be the sunrise technologies for the world events, Minister for Industries and Commerce, Information Technology and Skill Development Mekapati Goutham Reddy said.

In his address at the inaugural of the 'Centre of Excellence (CoE) on IoT and AI' at Andhra University campus, Visakhapatnam, launched by the IT industry's apex body National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in a joint partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Government of Andhra Pradesh here on Tuesday, the Minister said CoE aimed at promoting innovation in emerging technologies like IoT, AI and robotics.

"AI machine learning, followed by robotic process automation, edge computing, quantum computing, virtual reality and augmented reality, block chain, IoT, 5G and cyber security form a part of the nine technologies and AP would be a trillion dollar economy using these technologies," Goutham Reddy mentioned.

The centre was inaugurated by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology and Mekapati Goutham Reddy and Prof PVGD Prasad Reddy, Vice Chancellor, Andhra University.

The new centre advances Prime Minister Modi's Digital India vision by providing open labs and infrastructure to create and validate solutions from design to prototype to democratise innovation, a press release stated.

It also promotes entrepreneurship by providing an incubation facility for peer-to-peer learning and the benefit of an industrial environment. Start-ups in the State are also expected to benefit through the launch of the new centre with newer opportunities in areas of their development, mentorship, funding, and the adoption of their solutions in the industry. The CoE is currently working with enterprises interested in collaborating with start-ups for newer innovative solutions.

The Centre of Excellence of IoT and AI is a step towards solving real-world challenges and creating an impact. It is designed to be a catalyst that will help the industry embrace technology and become globally competitive. The centre will focus on harnessing the power of Artificial intelligence and the Internet of things to bring unprecedented opportunities for Industry, Start-ups, and Academia, the press release adds.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar in his virtual address said "Technologies like IoT, technologies like AI are going to deeply shape the future of technology landscape and the economy in general. It is absolutely essential that the Centre of Excellence becomes not just academic extensions of university, but they become living, breathing, growing centres of energy, dynamism, entrepreneurship, and technology in the coming years." he added. The minister appreciated the collaborative approach that had been followed in setting up of this CoE by the GoI, GoAP, Industry and academia.