Cognitive computing for a better world
In this rapidly changing and evolving world, we’ve seen that it has become extremely crucial to form collaborative partnerships to solve real-world complex problems. Often, these collaborations are between multiple seemingly different areas of work, and we have seen often how there is a de-hyphenation of industry and research even today. However, the Technology Innovation Hub concept, as visualized by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, aims to bridge the gap between the tech industry, research and academic centers, as well as governmental agencies pertaining to science and technology. Cyber-physical systems are essentially building upon the foundation of what we all know are embedded systems. The increased pervasiveness of computing in human life has caused more computing systems to be available all around us, in each and every aspect of our life. Taking user feedback actively and dynamically has also become a top priority for the success of such systems and activities. Together, integrating computation and physical processes in a dynamic environment, cyber-physical systems are the future for intelligent systems. Under the aegis of the Government of India’s vision for transforming India into a powerful digital and scientific player in the world through cyber-physical systems, the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) was established. The mission has mandated the creation of Technology Innovation Hubs(TiH) in reputed Academic and R&D institutions, with an impressive track record of scientific and academic excellence. These TIHs will not only work in research and development, but will also work in close collaboration with industry in order to develop commercial technology to be used to solve real-world problems.
IIIT-Delhi, being well known for it’s excellent research facilities and activities, along with a strong academic flavor across the campus and it’s residents, has also been chosen to develop a Technology Innovation Hub. iHub Anubhuti IIITD, being the Technology Innovation Hub of IIIT-Delhi, will be a center for creating a conducive ecosystem for fostering partnerships between academia, industry and the government agencies, creating an atmosphere of innovation, research and development and entrepreneurship. Building a platform for entrepreneurship in cyber-physical systems and even technology has become quite important, in order to stimulate critical thinking, problem solving, and leadership abilities among the youth of the country and developing our crucial, young human resources. To enable this, our focus will also be on skill development and nurturing start-ups through various entrepreneurship programs. We plan to support research projects; and nurture & incubate startups in the verticals of Health, Legal, Education and Sustainability. The domain of work for iHub-Anubhuti is Cognitive Computing and Social Sensing. Cognitive computing, in layman’s terms, is the effort done by computers and scientists to simulate and mimic the brain and it is a cognitive process. Social sensing refers to deriving and analyzing constructive insights from human behavior and their interaction with machines and computers. Both cognitive computing and social sensing are fields of research with great depth, and with a great scope to solve complex social and cultural problems. The vision for iHub Anubhuti is to develop a one-stop, robust cognitive computing platform to support a variety of applications, and contribute to the growth and development of cognitive computing technologies in the nation. Along with the platform, we wish to develop a National Cognitive Computing Database(NCDD), which can analyse and process a wide variety of data arriving from numerous cyber-physical systems used by humans in every sphere of life. Another aspect of the vision of iHub-Anubhuti is to train human resources and develop the necessary skills and training in the field of cognitive computing and social sensing, and that can be achieved by supporting the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students through fellowships and early career research grants, and also by conducting continuing education programs and giving them platforms to develop entrepreneurship opportunities. Adding to this are relevant workshops and seminars, and programs for upgrading industry skills, in order to achieve synchronization between academic and industry skill sets. The work ahead at iHub-Anubhuti is surely going to be truly rewarding, enriching and insightful for all the stakeholders involved with us. In the spirit of collaboration, placing the focus on technology in our daily lives, and working to improve the capacity and capabilities of the nation in cyber-physical systems, cognitive computing and social sensing, iHub-Anubhuti is surely going to leave a mark and will hopefully inspire many more people and institutions to work towards developing such initiatives through research and entrepreneurship to tap our true technological potential as a nation!