Dr. Katragadda wants India to focus on AI jobs
India holds an immensely important role as a key global talent hub as the technology ecosystem across the world is witnessing an exciting era of international collaboration and knowledge sharing, says Ed Almond, Chief Executive and Secretary, The IET (Global).
The future of engineering rests on the shoulders of a skilled talent pool, he said at an event organised on 9 Nov by the UK-headquartered Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
“Today, one of the biggest challenges faced by the industry is a widening industry-academia skills gap, and concerted collaboration efforts are key to bridging the same,” he pointed out.
“Engineers across the world must converge to deliberate, innovate, and chart solutions to the pressing challenges of our times, and the IET plays an important role in leading this.”
The IET, a leading global engineering body, successfully concluded its presidential address event on “Charting the Course for Engineers in India: AI for a Resilient Future”.
The event featured a roundtable discussion on new energies by eminent industry experts, the announcement of the winners of the IET India Awards and the IET Scholarship Award, and the presidential address by Dr. Gopichand Katragadda, tech veteran and Founder of Myelin Foundry.
Dr. Katragadda, the first Indian president of the global engineering body, highlighted that AI jobs should be India’s focus, saying AI will create 100 million jobs, of which 70% will be in data creation and annotation, 20% in application development and 10% globally leading algorithms.
He elaborated, “The engineering ecosystem in India is undergoing a dramatic transformation leveraging and driving AI based outcomes. As one of the largest engineering bodies in the world, the IET holds immense responsibility to mobilize the members of the engineering community towards driving AI use for social good.
“I am looking forward to leading this initiative and contributing towards the IET’s journey towards inspiring and influencing the global engineering community.”
The event also featured a roundtable discussion on the theme “New Energies for a New India”. The discussion focussed on cutting-edge solutions for renewable energy generation, harnessing the potential of wastewater, the role of hydrogen in energy transition, renewable energy for mobility, and leveraging artificial intelligence for enhanced efficiency in energy generation, distribution, and utilization.
Discussing India’s technology potential in the global context, Shekhar Sanyal, Country Head and Director – IET India, said, “With a skilled talent pool and constant innovation, India is well-positioned to redefine global technology standards.
“I envision a future where India creates products for the whole world, designed to solve some of the biggest challenges that various industries have faced for decades.
“In this context, the IET, led by Dr. Katragadda, will serve as an important guiding force, facilitating crucial conversations to create a roadmap for responsible, inclusive, and ethical technology implementation.”
The IET is one of the world’s largest engineering institutions with over 168,000 members in 150 countries. It is also the most multidisciplinary – to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of engineering in the 21st century.
The IET is working to engineer a better world by inspiring, informing and influencing our members, engineers and technicians and all those who are touched by or touch the work of engineers.
The IET office started operations in India in 2006, in Bangalore. Today, it has over 13,000 members and has the largest membership base for the IET outside of the UK. Fiinews.com
