Meeting speaking avatars on futuristic campuses: Indian Study week, Part 3

Dear Diary, did you know that the success story of Bangalore is inextricably linked with 印孚瑟斯 ?

To my shame, I must confess that I didn't know this company for a long time. Only created in the early 1990's, Infosys has grown in less than 40 years from a garage company into a giant with over 300,000 employees and $17 billion in revenue. Infosys' mission is Business Acceleration, which means they help companies, organizations and institutions transform digitally from within.

By the way, one of the founders of Infosys is Narayana Murthy, the father-in-law of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. We didn't care about big politics, though. We wanted to know how Infosys works. And, of course, we wanted to explore the Infosys campus by which we were simply left breathless. Just have a look at this stunning architecture!

Better people’s lives thanks to Artificial Intelligence: IIIT makes it possible

Just across the street is the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT) located, the first ever institute of this kind in India. Having a chat with the Dean (R&D) and Professor at IIIT, Srinath Srinivasa at the Roof Top Party the night before, I had arranged our spontaneous visit to the IIIT the next day. Srinath had invited six professors and startup founders who gave us a fascinating insight into its projects.

IIIT does exactly what has always interested me most about Data Science: they combine social research with high-end information technology in order to improve people's lives. Just one example: They have developed a system that translates spoken or written language directly into sign language and vice versa. Deaf-mute people can thus talk to anyone via an avatar - not just people who know sign language. Another project is based on self-explanatory Artificial Intelligence - software that explains why an algorithm comes to a certain result. This is a very important project because many people do not trust Artificial Intelligence, because they don’t understand what it actually does.

In the evening, we were invited by the faculty of our partner university, the JAGSoM - Jagdish Sheth School of Management to a welcome dinner in a hotel bar. There was lots of laughter and lively discussions until late at night. At some point, I raised the white flag and went to sleep. My students must have had the longer run. :)

Why is India so innovative?

My preliminary conclusion: Because researchers in India like to share knowledge, ideas and experiences and are more interested in joint success than in personal glory. And when this is done by researchers from a population of 1.4 billion people who want to improve their lives and who are looking for perspectives ?– ?not only for themselves, but also for their families ?– ?then great things can happen. Today, we had the opportunity to visit nasscom , an innovation incubator that serves around 10,000 startups. We learned that India's technology miracle is not only due to the sheer size of the country (or rather continent), but also to a clever funding strategy.

Innovations take place not only on a large, but also on a small scale such as the smart medicine dispenser, the smart washroom or the smart "Healthometer" which measures seven important health values (including blood pressure, blood sugar and blood fat ?– ?without needing any blood). How does it work? The answer is sensor technology and Artificial Intelligence. And what’s always very important in India is that the products must be inexpensive.

Contrasting sceneries and aromatic Whisky tour ?

What always fascinates me in Bangalore is the rapid change of scenery. On a poorly paved street corner, a fish seller can be offering his wares on the loading deck of a three-wheeled Vespa, and a few steps later you’ll find yourself in a high-tech center.

In the afternoon, we were invited to visit the Amrut Distillery. This distillery produces, among other things, a wonderful Single Malt Whisky that enjoys world renown. That’s impressive as South India has (had), in contrast to North India, no whiskey tradition in the past. The tour through the distillery was unique. First, we were allowed “to stick our noses” into every fermentation pot - quite different from what one is used to in other (sterile) tours. And secondly, the Amrut Distillery does a lot by hand because they want to guarantee a regular income for as many people as possible.

Fun Fact: We are happy to be accompanied by our Indian friends on our tour almost every day. This time, it was Yothi and Tuhin. We are looking forward to?more adventures!

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To be continued (very soon).

Missed Part 1??See how it all started here.

Missed Part 2? Here you go.

For Part 4, please click here.

Your Applied Data Science Team @?HSLU Hochschule Luzern.