The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), India’s premier software lobby, on Thursday opened a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence here.

“Nasscom also signed a MoU with NITI Aayog to collaboratively foster applied research, accelerating adoption and ethics, privacy and security,” Nasscom said in a statement.

“With the aim to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem, the CoE and MoU, both aim to serve as a platform for intelligence-sharing and technology collaboration between stakeholders to build collective capabilities for the industry and country in the cutting-edge areas artificial intelligence,” it said.

Supporting AI strategy

Nasscom would support the government’s National Strategy for AI and will facilitate collaboration between NITI Aayog and CoEs. It will also include NITI Aayog as a knowledge partner. “Leveraging their skilling platform FutureSkills, Nasscom and NITI Aayog will together accelerate innovation and cultivate skilling in India,” the software lobby said.

The CoE initiative is a nationwide programme on innovation, focusing on solutions in smart manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, agriculture, energy, IoT, banking and financial services, retail, telecom, and host of emerging technologies.