Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Meta Collaborate for Frontier Tech Labs in Schools
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi: In an effort to democratise future technologies and empower youth to innovate, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and Meta have announced the launch of Frontier Technology Labs (FTLs). Atal Innovation Mission and Meta will partner to set up FTLs in schools of strategic importance to ensure that students from diverse backgrounds across India will have equal opportunities to learn and engage with frontier technologies. Till date, AIM has established 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in schools across 722 districts in India. The objective of ATLs is to foster curiosity, creativity, and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, physical computing etc.
The FTL is an advanced version of Atal Tinkering Lab equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, including all components of the Tinkering Lab to empower students to innovate using technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Robotics, 3D Printing, and Internet of Things. The labs support the Government’s focus on equipping youth with digital skills to succeed in the evolving landscape of technology and the global economy. The FTLs will be funded by Meta and Atal Innovation Mission will be the knowledge partner.
Through engaging workshops, interactive sessions, and project-based learning, students will be trained on using AI tools effectively, understanding generative AI & prompt engineering, exploring scientific concepts interactively using AR & VR, dealing with new age cyber security threats, amongst other things. Students will also be given access to tools and resources from Meta, like LLaMA and other AI tools, to build innovative solutions.
Dr Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, AIM, NITI Aayog said, “The collaboration between AIM, NITI Aayog, and Meta is a testament to harnessing the potential of our youth towards creating a pool of future-ready talent capable of driving technological advancements of India. These Labs will serve as hubs for innovation, providing students with the necessary tools to explore and contribute to the cutting-edge fields that will shape the future.”
“We are thrilled to partner with AIM, NITI Aayog, in setting up Frontier Technology Labs, through which youth will be provided with access to immersive technologies in India. By enabling students to build solutions using generative AI, AR, VR, and other technologies that are reshaping our world, we are fostering an ecosystem of innovation, creativity and problem-solving,” remarked Shivnath Thukral, Director and Head of Public Policy India, Meta.
The FTLs are a part of Meta’s Education to Entrepreneurship initiative, launched in September 2023, to seamlessly connect students, youth, workforce, and micro-entrepreneurs with futuristic technologies, taking digital skilling to the grassroots. The initiative aims to advance the government’s agenda of digital inclusion, skilling and growth.
Establishing these labs aligns with the vision of the Atal Innovation Mission to create a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in schools across India, marking a significant step forward in building a skilled workforce to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. Meanwhile, these labs will be managed by Meta’s partner 1M1B (One Million for One Billion). /BI/
More In Tech Governance
The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
