NEW DELHI: The government will soon come up with a national policy to reskill and upskill millions of youth in the country to create a workforce capable of handling emerging trends such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and machine learning. The idea is to strengthen the government's Skill India mission through dedicated policy measures. "Reskilling and upskilling is big on the incoming government's agenda," a senior government official told ET. "There will be renewed focus on reskilling." The idea is to create a workforce that can access new opportunities and to insulate it from technological shocks. "We would like to ensure that individuals have access to economic opportunities by remaining competitive in the new world of work and that businesses have access to the talent they need for the jobs of the future," the official added.

The Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the skill development and entrepreneurship ministry, has signed an agreement with IT major IBM to carry out a nationwide Train-the-Trainer programme in basic artificial intelligence, an official statement said on Wednesday. As part of the programme, ITI trainers will be trained on basic artificial intelligence (AI) skills towards using the technology in their day-to-day training activities, the ministry said in a statement. This programme, it said, aims at enabling the trainers with basic approach, workflow and application of artificial intelligence that they can apply in their training modules. "IBM aims at training 10,000 faculty members from ITIs across the country and the programme will be executed over a period of one year with 14 trainers across 7 locations with over 200 workshops," it added. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, many more training programmes will be initiated for the trainers.

"The public sector, with its various schemes (Digital India, Make in India, Skill India), could identify areas where specific applications of AI and robotics can be utilised to increase reach, effectiveness and efficiency, thus giving direction to existing innovation across different fields," the study said. Indian government departments should take the lead in developing cross-border collaborations with countries leading in Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, industry chamber Assocham said on Sunday. The departments like the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), should drive cooperative relationships with frontrunners like Japan, the UK, Germany, Singapore, Israel and China to develop solutions for social and economic challenges and accelerate strategy formulation in AI, machine learning (ML) and other new technologies, Assocham said citing its joint study with British advisory multinational PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). "Exchanging best practices and learnings from prior initiatives is one way of strengthening cooperation," the study titled "Advance artificial intelligence for growth: Leveraging AI and robotics for India's economic transformation" said.A It also suggested that policy planning in AI must be aimed at creating an ecosystem that is supportive of research, innovation and commercialisation of applications. "The public sector, with its various schemes (Digital India, Make in India, Skill India), could identify areas where specific applications of AI and robotics can be utilised to increase reach, effectiveness and efficiency, thus giving direction to existing innovation across different fields," the study said.

Defined as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programmes" by the late John McCarthy--one of the founding fathers of the discipline--Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has subtly made inroads into the daily lives of Indian citizens in the form of app-based cab aggregators and digital assistants on smartphones. However, public policy in India has not been able to take much advantage of AI applications, suggests a report published jointly by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and consulting firm PwC. The report titled Artificial Intelligence and Robotics–2017 believes that national initiatives like Make in India, Skill India and Digital India could immensely benefit from AI technologies. Alternatively, early public sector interest in AI could trigger a spurt of activity in the AI field in India. AI, for instance, can be applied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives such as the Digital India initiative, Skill India and Make in India; in large-scale public endeavours ranging from crop insurance schemes, tax fraud detection, and detecting subsidy leakage, and to helping hone the country's defence strategy.