IIIT hosts virtual EU Day

Hyderabad: The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH), hosted a virtual EU Day on human-centric digitalisation through policy dialogue, research and innovation between the European Union and India.

Speaking on the occasion, EU Ambassador Ugo Astuto said: "Covid-19 has demonstrated how important the digital dimension is to the economy, society and individual lives. We've seen how we can effectively perform many roles remotely, but for these IT tools to work, we need adequate infrastructure. The EU and India, two of the world's largest democracies, are working together on various aspects of this". He further said: "We have been collaborating with IIITH on a Centre of Excellence for IoT and smart cities and look forward to promoting a human-centric digital transformation that serves the needs of the people and empowers them."

Prof P J Narayanan, Director of IIITH, said: "We are glad to work closely with the EU and are honoured to be hosting the EU Day. IIITH is firmly grounded in research right from the UG level and, in keeping with global perspectives, has several bilateral arrangements between research groups across the world. The EU's support in setting up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Internet of Things (IoT) for Smart Cities at IIIT-Hyderabad based on global standards will help us reach a wider audience and create greater societal impact."

The programme featured eminent speakers from the EU delegation, Indian government (MEITY), Telangana government, and academic institutions (IIITH and NITW). Sessions included EU-India cooperation on enablers for a data-driven economy, EU-India Cooperation on the ICT standardisation, policy and legislation project in collaboration with IIITH and Future cooperation opportunities between EU and India on Research, Innovation and Education. In the first session.

Benoit Sauveroche from the EU delegation, presented the concept of data-driven economy, highlighted the challenges and enablers for the same, and why India-EU cooperation was important in this field. He also emphasised the need for human-centric approach for the application of AI.