Science & Nature

AI in sustainability and healthcare; India, Germany to boost science and technology cooperation

India, Germany begin mapping strengths in application of AI in sustainability and healthcare.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) startups, AI research and its sustainability and healthcare will be the prominent focus areas as India and Germany decided to take forward their collaboration in the new age technologies arena. It is a known fact that the two countries have been working together in the areas of science and technology, which the two nations consider as a strategic pillar in the bilateral relationship between the two.

The move to strengthen the collaboration came after India and Germany held bilateral talks on the science and technology terrain.  Dr Jitendra Singh, India’s Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences held parleys with German Minister for Education & Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger and decided to take forward the existing cooperation in these areas.

The realisation that there exist a lot of scope to work together in Artificial Intelligence space have also spurred the thought of taking things forward. Experts on two sides have already met with this as the prime focus. An Indo-German call for proposals in this regard is expected to soon invite proposals from researchers and industry to be part of the cooperation.

Joint research programme in AI

It was in 2019 when the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visited Delhi that Germany and India had agreed to establish a joint research programme in Artificial Intelligence. The two countries had also decided on the extension of the Indo-German Partnership in Higher Education for another four years, with contributions of Euros 3.5 million each, a government communication has said.

The two countries have expressed satisfaction on the manner in which the current cooperation in the areas of science and technology has been progressing. The academia, research institutions and industries based out of the two countries have effectively formed a solid bonding and have been playing the role of catalyst in India’s strategic research and development partnerships, according to Dr Jitendra Singh, who is currently part of the official delegation touring Germany.

Science and tech cooperation set for a leap

India and Germany have been working in the frontier areas of science and technology, including electric mobility, cyber physical system, quantum technologies, future manufacturing, green hydrogen fuel, deep ocean research. These areas also will see further cooperation between the two nations. India and Germany have already begun mapping each other’s strength in areas like application of Artificial Intelligence in sustainability and healthcare.

The two nations have also acknowledged the efficacy of initiatives aimed at human capacity developments in science and engineering that have been worked out recently. The Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER), formed to facilitate lateral entry of women researchers into ongoing science and technology projects, and also the Paired Early Career Fellowships towards creating an inclusive ecosystem for the Indo-German science and technology ties with exchange of young researchers on both sides are among the initiatives that have been rolled out. Industrial Fellowships aimed at industrial exposure of young Indian researchers in a German industrial ecosystem are also part of such initiatives.

Show More

Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisment
Back to top button