Hexagon Capability Center India (HCCI), the research and development unit of Swedish technology major Hexagon AB, will set up an AI community centre in Hyderabad next year in association with Nasscom, a top company official said. The upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) centre will be accessible to all from high-school level, and will provide free education on AI topics, HCCI Vice-President and Country Manager Navaneet Mishra told reporters after presenting awards to winners of a 24-hour hackathon, named Hexathon, which was conducted recently by the company. He said they recently signed an MoU with Nasscom, and the centre will cover about 350 students every year in multiple batches. HCCI, which currently has 1,400-plus employees at its facility in Hyderabad, will touch a 1,500-workforce by the end of this year, Mishra said, to a query on expansion plans. Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said 2020 will be celebrated in Telangana as the'Year of AI' and to have a community-focussed AI initiative supported by Hexagon will be a good activity as a part of the year-long programme.

IT firm Hexagon to introduce the nuts and bolts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to school students from Class 8. The AI Community Centre, which will offer free courses, to come up in Hyderabad early next year. Stockholm (Sweden)-based Hexagon, a sensor, software and autonomous solutions, has tied up the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) to establish the AI Community Centre. "The school is open to all. It will run introductory courses in AI for students from Class 8 to senior level, which include engineering students," Navaneet Mishra, vice-president and Country Manager of Hexagon Capability Center India (HCCI), said.