NTT DATA, IIT Jammu Tie Up For AI CoE; To Explore Flood Early-Warning, Dogri Language AI

Technology services firm NTT DATA and IIT Jammu have collaborated to set up an artificial intelligence centre of excellence at the institute, which will explore the use of AI and digital twins for flood and landslide preparedness in Jammu and Kashmir.

Climate and disaster resilience will be an important focus of the centre, with potential applications including flood monitoring and early warning for the Tawi and Chenab river basins, and sensor-based approaches to landslide and flood risk, NTT DATA said in a statement on Friday.

Jammu and Kashmir's mountainous terrain and river systems present complex challenges related to floods, landslides, infrastructure planning and emergency response, the statement said.

The partners will also explore locally relevant AI, including research into Indian languages such as Dogri, to help make digital services more accessible.

"Together with IIT Jammu, we will give researchers and students a pathway to turn promising ideas into practical solutions and commercial applications. By combining local insight with NTT DATA's global technology capabilities, we can develop solutions that are relevant to Jammu and Kashmir and have the potential to scale more broadly," said Avinash Joshi, Executive Managing Director, India, NTT DATA.

The planned centre will organise its work around four areas: secure and responsible AI, digital twins, physical AI, and a research commercialisation and startup lab.

Digital twins are virtual models of physical environments and infrastructure. The centre will look at their use in smart campuses, infrastructure management, environmental monitoring, and climate and disaster resilience.

The physical AI work will combine AI with robotics, computer vision, the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing for uses such as infrastructure monitoring and public safety.

The startup lab will help turn research into intellectual property, products and new companies, the statement said.

"The collaboration will give our students, researchers and faculty opportunities to address challenges that matter to Jammu and Kashmir while developing innovations that can have relevance across India,” said Professor Manoj Gaur, Director, IIT Jammu.