Kerala Unveils Ambitious Plan to Become Global AI Hub

Kerala Brings In Policy Initiatives To Promote Itself As Global GenAI Hub

Preferential share capital investment of up to INR 5 Cr would be provided by the KSIDC to AI entities with a minimum investment of INR 10 Cr At a time when India is witnessing a rapid artificial intelligence adoption among masses and enterprises, Kerala has unveiled a slew of policy initiatives to promote the state as a global hub of GenAI by creating an ecosystem reinforced by incentives and partnerships. As per PTI's report, Industries Minister P. Rajeeve made the state's AI declaration at the valedictory of the two-day International Generative Artificial Intelligence Conclave organised jointly by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and IBM. The government will come out with a dedicated AI policy, complying with the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals during this fiscal year itself, Rajeeve was quoted as saying in the report. Based on the policy, support and incentives will be provided to enhance the existing infrastructure and create a more futuristic AI ecosystem. Preferential share capital investment of up to INR 5 Cr would be provided by the KSIDC to AI entities with a minimum investment of INR 10 Cr. Scale-up support of INR 1 Cr would be provided along with other incentives notified in the industrial policy. The state hogged the limelight over concern to its technological upgrade when a school in Kerala took a step towards a seamless AI-powered classroom with a robot teacher, in March. Thiruvananthapuram-based KTCT Higher Secondary School is now home to a GenAI-powered saree-clad robot teacher, called Iris. The brainchild behind this robot is Kochi-based edtech startup, Makerlabs.

Kerala unveils slew of sops to promote AI; focused policy on anvil

Kerala introduces comprehensive AI policy to position itself as a leading Gen AI hub. The state plans to establish an AI Cluster, provide financial assistance to startups, and promote AI adoption in various sectors. Global Investors Meet scheduled for 2025 in Kochi. Kerala on Friday unveiled a slew of upfront policy initiatives to promote the state as a global hub of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) by creating a highly enabling ecosystem reinforced by incentives, support and partnerships. Minister for Industries and Law P Rajeeve made the state's AI Declaration at the valedictory of the two-day international Gen AI conclave here, laying the road map for the transformative shift. A first-of-its-kind initiative, the July 11-12 conclave was organised by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in association with technology giant IBM. Noting that the state has already identified AI as a priority sector in the present industrial policy, Rajeeve said the government will come out with a dedicated AI policy, complying with the ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) goals during this fiscal year itself. Based on the policy, support and incentives will be provided to enhance the existing infrastructure and create a more futuristic AI ecosystem. Taking forward the initiative, an AI Cluster will be established in the state, facilitating the creation of a cluster-based Industrial Park on a public-private partnership basis in association with technology and knowledge partners. This will serve as common infrastructure, including Graphics Processing Centres, Global Capability Centres and other ecosystem support infrastructure, an official statement said here. Plug-and-play and incubation facilities will also set up in the state in association with anchor investors, it said. Identifying the startup ecosystem as a key component in the state's transformative journey, the declaration said the government will provide financial assistance, including share capital to startups in the AI segment. Preferential share capital investments of up to Rs 5 crore shall be provided by KSIDC to AI entities with a minimum investment of Rs 10 crore, it added. Scale-up support of Rs 1 crore shall be provided along with other incentives notified in the Industrial policy. The state's fast-growing MSME sector will be further empowered by providing them with AI tools and financial incentives, which will also strengthen the AI entities, according to the statement. Promoting collaborative efforts in the critical domain, AI based technology groups will be constituted, comprising representatives from AI entities, research institutions, associations and government agencies for ensuring wider stakeholder partnerships. Adoption of AI in various core sectors such as marine genome sequencing, tourism, healthcare, IT/ITeS will also be focused with the support of the technology groups. Adoption of AI to strengthen governance will be an important component of the policy. As part of this, AI will be used in various schemes and initiatives of government departments and agencies. As a first step, the companies in Mission 1000 scheme will be encouraged to adopt AI technologies. The database of Mission 1000 scheme will be analysed using AI tools. AI tools shall be incorporated into the online mechanism for processing application forms, resolving investor queries, decision making and licensing support by government agencies, the statement added. Meanwhile, buoyed by the phenomenal response to the GenAI Conclave, Kerala will host a two-day Global Investors Meet to promote investments from companies in the AI sector next year, Rajeeve said. The minister revealed a raft of ambitious plans of the Industries Department to ramp up the ecosystem in Kerala by attracting investment. The Global Investors Meet has been planned in Kochi on January 14 and 15, 2025, he said.

International GenAI conclave ends with State's declaration on AI

Policy initiatives to promote Kerala as a global hub of GenAI unveiled. Dedicated AI policy, support for AI start-ups are among the initiatives The two-day International Generative Artificial Intelligence Conclave organised jointly by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and IBM concluded here with a declaration by the State government on AI on Friday. The declaration, made by Industries Minister P. Rajeeve at the valedictory function, unveiled a slew of policy initiatives to promote the State as a global hub of GenAI by creating an ecosystem reinforced by incentives and partnerships. Improving AI infra Mr. Rajeeve said the government would come out with a dedicated AI policy, complying with the ESG (environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and good governance practices) goals in this fiscal year itself. Based on the policy, support and incentives would be provided to enhance infrastructure and create a more futuristic AI ecosystem. An AI cluster would be established in the State, facilitating the creation of an industrial park on a public-private participation basis. The declaration said the government would provide financial assistance, including share capital, to start-ups in the AI segment. Preferential share capital investment of up to ₹5 crore would be provided by the KSIDC to AI entities with a minimum investment of ₹10 crore. Scale-up support of ₹1 crore would be provided along with other incentives notified in the industrial policy. The State's fast-growing MSME sector would get AI tools with financial incentives. In govt. departments AI would be used in various schemes of government departments. As a first step, the companies in 'Mission 1000' scheme would be encouraged to adopt AI technologies. The database of Mission 1000 would be analysed using AI tools. AI tools would be incorporated for processing application forms, resolving investor queries, decision-making, and licensing support by government agencies. To strengthen the State's AI ecosystem, partnership would be struck with academic institutions such as Additional Skill Acquisition Programme, Digital University Kerala, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, and Cusat to impart skill training in AI as per industry requirements. Read Comments

Kerala plans to set up AI cluster based industrial parks: Minister Rajeeve

Kerala has proposed to set up an Artificial Intelligence cluster based industrial park on a PPP basis in association with various technology and knowledge partners. This will facilitate the creation of a common infrastructure including Graphics Processing Centres, Global Capability Centres and other ecosystem support infrastructure, said P Rajeeve, the State Industries Minister. Plug and play & incubation facilities will be established in the State in association with anchor investors, he said. Making a declaration at the valedictory session of the IBM GenAI Conclave, the Minister said AI sector has been identified as a priority sector in the present industrial policy. In tune with this, a dedicated AI policy, complying with the ESG goals for the State would be announced in the current fiscal itself. Support will be included in the policy to enhance the existing infrastructure and create a more futuristic AI ecosystem. As per the new AI policy, the Minister said the government will provide financial assistance including share capital to start-ups in the AI segment. Preferential share capital investments of up to ₹5 crore would be provided by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation to AI entities with a minimum investment of ₹10 crore. Scale up loan support of ₹1 crore would be provided along with other incentives notified in the Industrial policy, he said adding that existing MSMEs who are adopting AI technology or AI tools will be provided with financial incentives, thereby strengthening the AI entities in the State, as also empowering the MSME segment. Adoption of AI in various core sectors like marine genome sequencing, tourism, healthcare, IT/ITeS will also be focused with the support of the technology groups. The government will also encourage usage of AI in various schemes, initiatives. As a first step, the companies in Mission 1000 scheme will be encouraged to adopt AI technologies. Dedicated session for promoting investments from companies in the AI sector will be conducted in the forthcoming Global Investors Meet to be held in January 2025. Campaigns will be undertaken to promote investments into the State from companies in the AI sector, the Minister said. Initiatives such as AI training for faculty members, start-ups in the State by IBM, possibilities of participating in international events including ones organised by IBM for AI students/researchers from the State would be facilitated. SHARE Copy linkEmailFacebookTwitterTelegramLinkedInWhatsAppRedditPublished on July 12, 2024

Kerala Leads The Way In Generative AI: First International Conclave Paves The Path For Innovation And Progress

Kerala is delighted to host the first International Gen AI Conclave in India, along with IBM. This is indeed a stepping stone towards elevating Kerala into the hub of generative artificial intelligence in the country, as we explore AI's transformative potential and its impact on our society and economy. I gather that there are about a thousand of you here, including industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators. At the outset, let me extend a very warm welcome to each and every one of the participants of this conclave. I hope that you all will have a fruitful time here in Kerala, god's own country. As you all know, in the run up to this conclave, Tech Talks were conducted in the 3 major IT Parks in Kerala and IBM's WatsonX (hm"vk¬ FIvkv) challenge was also conducted. More than 50 Startups working in the area of AI participated in that hackathon. The best among those Startups are here in this conclave featuring their ideas to global investors, and the winners will be eligible for scale up funds to the tune of up to Rs. 1 crore. This is a telling example of how Kerala is providing platforms for emerging talents, enabling innovation and entrepreneurship.

An AI-generated campaign aimed at demystifying AI

Nearly a fortnight before the country's first-ever International GenAI Conclave organised jointly by the Kerala State government and IBM got underway in Kochi on July 11, a novel campaign hit the public domain, including on social media. The aesthetically designed campaign revolved around a common theme - AI for the people - and had a set of four characters drawn from different walks of local citizenry - Josettan, a common man seeking services from a local body; Ramankutty, a farmer; Usha Chechi, a tailor, and Minimol, a budding entrepreneur. Kerala offering incentives to AI-driven MSMEs and companies, says CM The characters and their backdrops looked so earthly that it deceived even experienced photographers who mistook it for original photographs of real people. Only, they were AI-generated. "AI is generally perceived as highly technical, complicated and intimidating and often associated with job loss. We wanted to demystify and democratise the whole concept by linking it to local people and livelihood. Hence, the campaign slogan 'AI for the People," said Shelton Pinheiro, creative director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Stark Communications which designed the ad campaign. Earlier, creating figures with features of Keralites was a tough task as the relevant software used for image creation mostly threw up north-Indian faces for prompts for Indian features. Also, the imagery associated with India was rather "poverty-heavy." "Now, with Indian users on the rise, the algorithm returns more specific features such as that of South Indians on proper prompt. But even then, with the ever-increasing volume of data, even the very same prompt may not necessarily return the same results," said Mr. Pinheiro. Accurate prompting can be aided in multiple ways, including by uploading reference images. The backdrop can also be accurately generated by including minute specifics and camera attributes in the prompt. With the advent of third-party software that facilitate upscaling by increasing the number of pixels, now even big outdoor images can be generated using AI, which was not the case before. The availability of more refined software has made differentiating between real and AI-generated images even more difficult, which brings its own problems in its wake. So, what is the guarantee that the four AI-generated figures do not resemble real people somewhere? While that possibility cannot be ruled out entirely, the argument is that AI generates images by "scouring and scrubbing" millions of photographs on the Internet and hence that possibility remains remote, he said. The campaign concept was an instant hit with the Industries department and IBM. "The idea was to generate curiosity around the campaign, which seems to have worked. We have also received from the delegates very positive feedback about the campaign materials placed at the venue and along the way," Mr. Pinheiro said. Read Comments