Telangana govt’s IT dept wins NASSCOM’s ‘AI Gamechanger’ award

Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (IT,E&C) department won the ‘AI Gamechanger’ Award in the Xperience-AI Summit organised by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), which was held on August 5.

The state government’s ‘extensive’ AI research and projects helped it bag the ‘AI Gamechanger’ award, said a press release from Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao’s (KTR) office here on Friday.

The NASSCOM AI Gamechangers was conceptualised to seed awareness and enthusiasm around this wonderful technology and encourage others to emulate the successes in the ecosystem, the release said. It added that the Telangana government also realizes the importance of the inclusion of new-age technologies such as Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence in government practices.

Case in point here was the “Crowd Monitoring using AI” implemented by the state government which was awarded the ‘AI Gamechanger’ award out of 300+ applications from multiple stakeholders. The Startup – Awiros was the technology partner for this project and it was selected by the Telangana government for implementing AI applications in the state through an online competition and out of 400+ startups.

The startup had developed several AI-based applications for better governance and citizen safety. Moreover, the Telangana government’s Counter Intelligence Cell, also used the solution called ‘Real-time AI based Crowd Estimation & Prediction in Action’, initiated by Emerging Technologies Wing, ITE&C department, for estimating and managing crowds, such as during the Medaram Jathara festival in 2020.

Using this tool, authorities can not only detect but also track the variation in the crowd density in an area from time to time. It can also estimate where the crowd may be expected to surge after analysing the trend in events like Medaram Jathara Festival, the release said.

“With crowd densities being automatically monitored, authorities can take corrective measures like manpower deployment, public announcement, rerouting crowds to less crowded areas to avoid events such as stampedes,” said the government.