IIT Kanpur to spearhead sustainable cities initiative as part of ‘Make AI in India’ mission

New Delhi: IIT Kanpur has been awarded to lead the ‘Sustainable Cities’ Center of Excellence (CoE) in AI, as part of the Ministry of Education’s initiative “Make AI in India, Make AI Work for India”.

Expressing the importance of the initiative,
Prof. Sachchida Nand Tripathi Dean of the Kotak School of Sustainability at IIT Kanpur, said, “After an extensive evaluation period of seven months, which included rigorous assessments of various proof of concepts, the prestigious IIT Kanpur led consortium was awarded the CoE for AI in Sustainable Cities”.

He added, “As the overall Principal Investigator of this consortium, I am excited to lead a diverse group of leading academic institutions and industry partners on this groundbreaking journey”.

In a significant stride towards harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence for sustainable development, the Government on October 15 unveiled the “Make AI in India. Make AI work for India” mission.

This initiative aims to establish three Centers of Excellence (CoEs) focused on leveraging AI in health, agriculture, and sustainable cities.

This initiative is poised to make a real difference in the lives of millions of Indians and demonstrating the power of AI to solve real-world problems and create a more sustainable future.

The Professor further said, “Over the next four years, our mission will tackle pressing sustainability challenges in urban environments. We will focus on innovative solutions in areas such as energy forecasting, air quality monitoring, and urban flood forecasting and planning”.

“Additionally, we will develop digital twins to enhance urban mobility, streamline city governance, and create efficient microgrid plans” he added.

The CoE in healthcare will be led by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi, the IIT in Ropar, Punjab will lead the CoE in agriculture. IIT Kanpur has been given the charge of developing CoE in sustainable cities. The CoEs will function with industries and start-ups.