Indian Army sets up Quantum Computing Lab and AI Centre in MP

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January 1, 2022

With the support of the National Security Council Secretariat, the Indian Army has recently implemented a Quantum computing laboratory and AI centre at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE) in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.

The Army has mainly established such centers to strengthen the research and development in emerging technologies. Once the research is successful, it can be used by the armed forces to enhance the country’s safety. At MCTE, the Indian Army has also launched artificial intelligence centers with over 140 deployments that help the institution to embed emerging technologies with academia.

According to the official press release statement from the Ministry of Defense, the idea of the Indian Army’s involvement in technology and research domains like Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations happened during last year’s seminar on Electromagnetic spectrum and national security that was organized.

Following that, technology institutions that belong to the Indian Army were encouraged and permitted to invest in emerging technologies like AI, Quantum, and Cyber. “Research undertaken by the Indian Army in the field of Quantum Technology will help leapfrog into next generation communication and transform the current system of cryptography in the Indian Armed Forces to Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC),” the statement added.

Some of the critical areas the quantum research will focus on are Quantum Key Distribution, Quantum Communication, Quantum Computing, and Post Quantum Cryptography.

The initiative by the Indian Army not only enhances fusion between emerging technologies and academics but also helps in embedding artificial intelligence with military applications. As said in the statement, “By undertaking a multi-stakeholder approach incorporating Academia (such as IITs), DRDO organisations, Research Institutes, Corporate firms, Startups and Industry players, this initiative is an apt example of Civil Military fusion with Atmanirbhar Bharat a key driving factor.”

Artificial Intelligence satellite from China take ultra high pictures of Earth

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 31, 2021

AI satellites from China take ultra high pictures of Earth

The Chinese have developed a highly advanced AI satellite to capture high-resolution images of the cities within seconds.

Chinese researchers have demonstrated that “Beijing-3”, a small commercial satellite that weighs around one ton, can produce images clear enough to identify a military vehicle on the street and determine what kind of weapon it may carry.

The Chinese launched the satellite in June 2021 to conduct an in-depth scan of the central San Francisco Bay area, covering approximately 1470 square miles.

In order to capture clear images of the Earth, satellites with altitude control mechanisms must be stable while taking pictures. General vibrations can blur images on many satellites that observe the Earth. In the Chinese experiment on Jun 16, 2021, the satellite was able to adjust the angle of its optical line of sight towards the ground as it passed over the US.

Due to the flexibility, the satellite could capture an area larger than any satellite could previously capture.

The satellite captures images at the height of 310 miles and a resolution of 50 cm per pixel, demonstrating its ability to capture images. At the same time, its body rotated at a speed of 10 degrees per second.

In a paper published this month in the Chinese peer-reviewed journal Spacecraft Engineering, project lead scientist Yang Fang said that China started relatively late on agile satellite technology but made significant breakthroughs in a short period of time.

The Beijing-3 satellite, according to Yang, would be the most agile and powerful Earth-observing satellite ever built. Beijing-3’s response is 2-3 times faster than that of the US’ WorldView-4 satellite, currently the world’s most advanced Earth observation satellite.

The Beijing-3 is built on a new platform known as CAST3000E, which will enable China to construct small but highly capable satellites in the future.

IDC and Baidu Whitepaper: Artificial Intelligence to Reduce Carbon Emissions by 70% by 2060

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 31, 2021

IDC and Baidu Whitepaper AI to Reduce Carbon Emissions by 70% by 2060

According to a report from IDC and Baidu, artificial intelligence will contribute to a 70% reduction in carbon emissions by 2060. In the whitepaper, the company estimates that over 35 billion tons of carbon emissions will be reduced by 2060 as a result of AI-related technologies.

Providing insights into the Green Energy Transformation through innovative carbon emission reduction, the report incorporates research from IDC on the topic of ICT and AI and practices from Baidu and its industry partners.

As stated in the whitepaper, it will take a technology-intensive approach to achieve carbon neutrality, and numerous industries will benefit from the breakthroughs in AI and ICT infrastructure combined with Carbon reduction technologies. It is estimated that by 2060, AI-related technologies will contribute 70% to carbon reduction, with a net carbon reduction of at least 35 billion tons.

Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Baidu, Robin Li, stated that Baidu plans to dedicate even more resources to this endeavor using AI with ecosystem partners for carbon-neutral growth.

The Vice President and General Manager of Baidu’s Intelligent Transportation Division, Guobin Shang, points out that one of the significant advantages of intelligent transportation solutions is bringing “Vehicle-Road-Smart Mobility” to bear on tackling the issue of emissions from vehicles.

For cities with a population of over 10 million, the researchers state that they can reduce emissions by at least 41,600 tons per year, which is equivalent to 14,000 private cars.

According to IDC, based on their long-term tracking of global IT markets and their accumulation of data on such demands, an original carbon emission model is applied to cloud computing to calculate that the worldwide reduction of carbon emissions by 2020 is equivalent to taking 26 million gas-powered cars off the road.

With advanced technology and innovative mechanisms, Baidu plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

Accenture collaborates with Udacity for the Accenture Scholarship Program

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 31, 2021

Accenture collaborates with Udacity for the Accenture Scholarship Program

Accenture has recently collaborated with Udacity through the Accenture Scholarship Program to provide technical education to the students with no or limited technical knowledge.

There are no prerequisites for the program. Interested applicants can apply for the program here. Applicants may apply for the program by Jan 17, 2022. Scholarship recipients will be notified by Feb 17, 2022, and Nanodegree programs will commence on Feb 21, 2022.

Participants who complete the Challenge and Assessment will be eligible for a full scholarship to either Udacity’s Intro to Programming or Predictive Analytics programs.

Approximately 600 people will receive full scholarships to Udacity’s “Intro to Programming” or “Predictive Analytics Program.” To complete the program, participants need to commit ten hours each week. They will learn basic coding skills with the Intro to Programming path and predictive analytics with the Predictive Analytics path.

Following the Nanodegree program’s conclusion, all scholarship recipients will be eligible to apply to the Apprenticeship program.

Educating the next generation is a race against technology. People will need new skills as intelligent machines and systems change the nature of work.

With the increasing need for people in the field of technology, large corporations are testing lifelong learning methods. Still, traditional education and learning systems are ineffective and unsuited to the challenges of the new skills generation. Organizations with smaller sizes are more likely to be at risk if they fail to apply new learning techniques. There could also be significant economic repercussions.

The Chicago Apprenticeship Network was created in 2017 by Accenture and Aon. They aimed to provide underserved communities with more opportunities for high-paying tech jobs. Because of this commitment, Accenture is collaborating with Udacity to create a program that trains students to become employable.

NCKU and Quanta Computer set up AI research center

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 30, 2021

NCKU and Quanta Computer set up joint AI research center

Earlier this week, Quanta Computer and National Cheng Kung University announced the creation of the Quanta-NCKU Joint Artificial Intelligence Research Center.

In a ceremony attended by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-Che, NCKU President Su Huey-Jen, and Quanta Computer Chair Barry Lam, signed an agreement on creating an interdisciplinary team to integrate AI cloud technology at the national level. A high-performance AI server by Quanta Computer was presented to NCKU at the event, and the company has committed to continue sponsoring the AI research center for the next four years.

Huang said in the speech that the city has formed a 5G Tainan Team with Quanta Computer to implement 5G technology in the city government.

Su praised Lam for his decision to help promote AI-related innovations in Taiwan after the Legislative of Yuan recently passed a bill to create the Ministry of Digital Development. With Quanta Computer boasting a renowned legacy in hardware, the center will have the most advanced equipment, NCKU newly founded School of Smart Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing has proven to be a perfect fit.

Through its AI Cloud Platform, QOCA Air, Quanta initiated a research collaboration with NCKU. The platform, which carries Quanta’s ICT innovations, is constantly updated, customized, and re-designed in light of the results achieved through the collaboration.

The joint research center will be supported by Quanta, providing the necessary resources for accelerating AI research. Additionally, NCKU will build a platform that enables researchers to research across multiple fields.

Combining biomedical technology, the internet of things, big data, and optoelectronics to create critical applications in Taiwan’s medical, agricultural, and Urban Sectors is part of the school’s strategy to foster industry-academia collaboration and foster smart applications. A smart city that demonstrates the Internet of Things in action will be NCKU’s goal with additional help from the Ministry of Digital Development.

Indian border guards to rely on startups with AI technology

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 30, 2021

Indian border guards to rely on startups with AI technology

Using the data collected from a database, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) wants to identify suspicious persons and vehicles using artificial intelligence based sensors and other electronic devices for the Indian Borders.

SSB and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have launched a hackathon to develop low-cost homemade solutions for effective border management as a part of the initiative DRISHTI, which aims to improve the overall border security scenario and check illegal intrusion drone-based activities.

Participants will be required to develop innovative solutions for detecting suspicious/unauthorized vehicles, drone-based surveillance tools, and geospatial mapping of vulnerable areas along the International border. The SSB will use a database of collected information to identify suspicious persons and vehicles using Artificial Intelligence based sensors. These data include audio, video, text, and images.

MIETY has invited startups, innovative MSME firms, and research companies to submit their ideas as part of this process. The selected participants will have an opportunity to create and develop future security technologies for homeland and other internal projects with the SSB.

In line with the Government’s Make in India Initiative, various future-ready applications are considered and launched amid the current geopolitical security environment. ASIGMA, the Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application, is a contemporary messaging application recently launched by the Indian Army.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Army has pursued automation and progress towards paperless operations. In addition to ASIGMA, numerous applications will be deployed via the Indian Army’s captive pan network as ASIGMA is expected to amplify the Army’s efforts.
Secretary Ajay Sawhney and SSB Director General Kumar Rajesh Chandra launched the hackathon DRISHTI (Development of Research Indigenous Solutions Hackathon for Technological Innovations) in the national capital. There will be two winners in each challenge, receiving ₹10 Lakh and ₹5 Lakh, respectively. The SSB was established after the 1962 Sino-Indian war to guard the borders between Nepal and Bhutan.

Bengaluru ranked fifth for AI talent outside US

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 30, 2021

Bengaluru ranked fifth for AI talent outside US

According to a study by The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Bengaluru, India’s technology capital, is ranked as one of the top five global cities with the most robust AI talent pools. Bangalore outranks Los Angeles, London, Beijing, Chicago, and Washington based on this rating.

The study mentions that Bengaluru is home to the world’s second-largest pool of AI talent, ranking fifth for diversity among AI professionals. According to this study, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Seattle were ranked higher than Bengaluru.

These rankings were made using the Fletcher School’s TIDE framework, which consists of Talent Pool, Investments, Diversity of Talent, and changes in the state of the country’s digital foundation, along with gender and racial diversity, acceptance of migrants and cost of living.

While AI is becoming more popular among organizations, a considerable talent skill gap prevents many from accelerating their developments. Despite the growing number of AI talents, opportunities, firms across all industries struggle to attract top talent from a labor pool that isn’t growing fast enough, according to Deloitte’s third edition of the State of AI in the Enterprise survey.

The study found that nearly one-seventh of the AI talent pool is female compared with 27% in broad STEM fields. According to the TIDE framework, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai are the other Indian cities ranked among the top 50 AI cities.

It is good news for enterprises in India and for IT outsourcing firms that are seeking to increase their AI talent capabilities and differentiate themselves competitively.

The Fletcher study is another testament to India’s efforts to nurture its AI ecosystem over the past few years. According to the study, enterprise and startup companies have a substantial opportunity to develop India’s diverse talent to transform with AI.
The KPMG report “Technology Innovation Hubs 2021” listed Bengaluru as one of the top ten cities in the world for technology innovation outside the Silicon Valley.

Chinese scientists develop AI Prosecutor

By

Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 29, 2021

Chinese scientists develop AI Prosecutor

Chinese scientists claim to have developed the world’s first machine to identify people who have committed crimes using AI based Prosecutor. This is a significant technological development for China.

According to a researcher, an AI prosecutor can charge people with over 97 percent accuracy by utilizing verbal descriptions. According to the South China Morning Post, the Shanghai Pudong People’s Procuratorate, the country’s largest and busiest district prosecutor office, tested the machine.

An expert from the Project told local media that the Project aims to reduce prosecutor workloads. In one of the publications, Professor Shi Yong, the Project’s lead scientist, was quoted as saying, “The software could replace prosecutors in case-making processes to an extent.” He added that the system could also identify “dissent” against the state.

Scientists explained how the software works, saying it can process 1,000 human-created case description texts to determine whether charges can be filed. South China Morning Post reported that the machine was trained for five years — from 2015 to 2020 — and was fed 17,000 cases to identify and prosecute common crimes.

According to the South China Morning Post, the AI machine was trained on credit card fraud, gambling crimes, drunk driving, theft, and obstructing official duties. In time, they hope their machine will substitute prosecutors for some of the decisions made during the “decision-making” process.

The device will become adept at recognizing more types of crimes and charging those who deserve it with more training. Despite these concerns, some prosecutors are concerned about the new system. They asked who would be responsible if an error was made. Others said that people don’t want machines interfering with their work.

This is the first time artificial intelligence is being used in decision-making. While law enforcement agencies worldwide use digital technology extensively, it is primarily limited to evidence evaluation and forensics.

The First Flying Humanoid Robot

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 28, 2021

A team of researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia has recently been exploring what they believe is a fascinating idea- creating flying humanoid robots. Nevertheless, to control the movement of flying robots, objects, or vehicles, researchers will need systems that can reliably estimate the thrust produced by propellers, which enable them to move through the air.

Researchers are building the model from the data they have collected. In addition to centrifugal force, the team’s framework also uses the entire robot’s “centroidal momentum” to estimate thrust. Among roboticists developing humanoid systems, this is a value that is commonly used to control and estimate their movement.

Recently, the team developed a framework for estimating thrust intensities in flying multibody systems without thrust-measuring sensors. During the research at the Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence lab, Daniele Pucci, the head of AMI Lab, aimed to create a robot that can maneuver objects, walk on the ground, and fly.

As opposed to designing a new robotic structure, researchers decided to extend the capabilities of a humanoid robot to include flight since many of them can manipulate objects and move on the ground.

Pucci’s team tested the framework on the iRonCub robot, an evolution of the iCub robot with the integrated jet engines. The robot has been under development for some time. However, recently it has been demonstrated in its entirety.

Also, the team is planning to work on enhancing iRonCub’s flight capabilities. It is hoped that a reliable and performance-oriented humanoid will be developed that is capable of terrestrial and aerial locomotives in the future.

Affaf Momin and Hosameldin Awadalla plan to improve Pucci’s thrust estimation framework with AI and data-driven computational tools. Giuseppe L’Erario, a colleague of the researchers, will integrate the algorithms into controllers to integrate robot walking, maneuvering, running and horizontal flight strategies.

Kneron announced a $25M funding by Lite-On Technology

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Srishty Bhardwaj

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December 27, 2021

Kneron announced a $25M funding by Lite-On Technology

AI chips, that are semiconductors designed to accelerate machine learning, have many applications. According to Albert Liu, CEO and Founder of Kneron, one of the most promising applications of AI chips is in self-driving cars.

Liu’s AI chipmaker Kneron has been covertly raising funds to enter the intelligent transportation market. It secured a fresh round of $25 million fundraising with strategic partner Lite-On Technology, a Taiwanese optoelectronic pioneer. Among the other investors were Alltek, PalPilot, Sand Hill Angels, and Gaingels.

Since its inception in 2015, Kneron has raised approximately $125 million in total finance.

In San Diego and Taipei, the business has a long list of notable backers, including Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Horizon Shing’s Ventures, Alibaba, Qualcomm, Sequoia, and Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer and Apple’s supplier.

According to Liu, the company will be profitable in 2023, which would be an “excellent moment” for it to go public. When asked more recently, the founder was more coy about the firm’s IPO prospects, though he said the listing would likely to be in the U.S.

The CEO believes that an ambulance would not have to halt at junctions if roadside perception equipment could interact with neighboring cars. He went on to say that such infrastructure is essential in Asian countries, where traffic circumstances are more complex than in the United States.

The chips developed by the firm are “reconfigurable,” which means they combine software flexibility with hardware speed. According to Liu, AV’s silicon may be utilized for the vast AI engine within a vehicle and the tiny sensors stacked on the car’s outside.
Kneron presently generates $3-4 million in monthly income from its 30 business clients, with the United States accounting for 30-40% of its revenue. Kneron counts Foxconn as a strategic investor, using the startup’s chips in its “MIH” manufacturing platform for electric vehicles. In May, Kneron agreed to buy image signal processor Vatics from Vivotek, a subsidiary of Delta Electronics.