What is the index about?
Niti Aayog is planning to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) readiness index that will rank states on their capacity to adopt the technology for public service delivery and exploit its innovative potential.
What is the need?
The outcome of states' initiatives on AI are assessed. Hence, there is the need for an index.
The Aayog has been aggressively moving towards outcome-based monitoring and has in the past ranked states on key social indicators, much in line with its role of promoting competitive and cooperative federalism.
What will the index measure?
It aims to measure the states' performance, some of the likely parameters could include digital skills, innovation capabilities and existing data capabilities and management in each state.
The index is likely to even identify challenges for each state in adoption of AI and recommend possible areas of improvement for every state.
Why the index is important?
It is estimated that AI has the potential to add $957 billion to India's GDP by 2035 and boost India's annual growth by 1.3 percentage points by 2035 and hence its early adoption has become one of the government's key priority area.
The government had in the Union Budget 2018-19 entrusted the Aayog with the responsibility to develop the national programme on AI, following which it had in June last year released the national strategy for AI.