Trilok Singh
Telecommunications Secretary Dr Neeraj Mittal today highlighted that sustainable development will require the deployment of technology across the entire supply chains, economies and social sectors. He said, telecom is an integral part of it, and added that the digital economy will become roughly about 1.5 billion dollars in India by 2025-26 and it will be a good 15% of the GDP. “I cannot think that it can happen in any other way except when we have a very robust telecom network system,” he added.
Secretary (T) was addressing participants of round-table discussions organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on World Telecom and Information Society Day (WTISD), being observed at the DoT HQ.
The Secretary (T) highlighted the efforts of the department with the schemes such as Digital Communication Innovation Square (DCIS) and Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) through which it was able to support a lot of entrepreneurs who are now using technologies to solve small or bigger problems individually in their own spheres.
Secretary (T) informed that the 5G rollout in India has been the fastest around the world. Further, 100 5G use cases labs, established across the country, are providing opportunities associated with 5G technology by encouraging the development of 5G applications. Towards this about 350 faculty members from various colleges, in and around Delhi, have been trained in a one-month-long 5G course, which was developed in-house.
Senior official of the DoT, Industry captains, Start-ups, Associations and Organisations besides media were present on the occasion.
World Telecom and Information Society Day (WTISD)
The World Telecom and Information Society Day (WTISD), observed on 17th May, is one of the important international days observed by the DoT to highlight the critical role of telecommunications in economic and social development globally.
The WTISD is celebrated globally to mark the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as ways to bridge the digital divide. Each year, WTISD focuses on a specific theme related to telecommunications and information society issues and this year’s focus is on “Digital Innovation for Sustainable Development”.
Round table Discussion on “Sustainable Digital Development driven by AI”
On this occasion, this year DoT organised a round table discussion on “Sustainable Digital Development driven by AI” with participants from Industry, chaired by Secretary (T). Various industry, start-ups, associations and organisations participated in the round table discussions, which included Tejas Networks, VVDN, Nivetti, Cisco, Nokia, Sensorise, Lekha, Sparsh, HFCL, XS Infosol, TEMA, MAIT, COAI, VoICE. The discussion aimed at exploring the transformative potential that the AI holds towards sustainable development and what more efforts are required from stakeholders to achieve the goals of SDG.
Additionally, the event also focused on other initiatives of DoT which are using the power of AI, including the Sangam: Digital Twin and citizen-centric portal Sanchar Saathi.
Sangam Digital Twin: PoC to Showcase Practical Use Cases
To demonstrate practical use cases for infrastructure planning and design, the DoT launched the Sangam Digital Twin with AI-driven Insights Initiative on February 15, 2024. This initiative called for Expressions of Interest (EoI) from a diverse pool of stakeholders, including industry giants, tech firms, startups, academia, and individual innovators. The goal is to validate through real-world applications and demonstration of use cases, to showcase potential benefits in planning and designing of infrastructure using Digital Twin, telecom data and AI.
Response to the EoI for Sangam Digital Twin PoC
Three outreach programs were conducted in March 2024. These events featured over 40 distinguished speakers and garnered an overwhelming response. The response to the Stage-I EoI was significant, with 199 submissions received. Out of these, 144 applicants have been selected to participate in the PoC (List of selected participants https://sangam.sancharsaathi.gov.in/selected-participants). These selected participants include a broad spectrum of participants, from well-established telecom service providers (TSPs) and large technology corporations to dynamic startups and renowned academic institutions.
Further, DoT plans to host networking events for the selected participants to develop use cases in a detailed and specific manner, deliberate with stakeholders to assess the value and importance of use cases for end users, and evaluate the feasibility and availability of requisite data. These events will also help identify competent and willing partners to develop components or modules and demonstrate use cases for infrastructure planning and designing.
The initiative is structured into two progressive stages:
Stage I: Exploratory Phase (Two Months- by July’24) – Designed to encourage wide-ranging participation and foster innovative thinking. Stakeholders contribute to a ‘living list’ of use cases, encouraging continuous dialogue on viable and impactful technological applications. Stage II: Development and Demonstration (Six Months- by January 2025) – Focused on practical application, involving the development and demonstration of selected use cases.
(With the inputs of Ministry of Communications).
