Odisha hosts 2-day regional AI summit, focus is on sustainable AI future

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], December 19 : Odisha is hosting a two-day Regional AI Impact Summit 2025 in Bhubaneswar starting today, organised by the Electronics and Information Technology Department, Government of Odisha.

This summit brings together policymakers, industry leaders, academicians, innovators, and startups to advance scalable public AI solutions focused on 3Ps - People, Planet, and Progress.

Odisha Minister Mukesh Mahaling said going ahead, a regional AI Summit will be held in Odisha after the IndiaAI Summit in Delhi in February 2026.

"It will discuss two major issues related to a sustainable AI future... The outcomes of this summit will inform how AI can be used to monitor our governance modules," the Odisha minister told ANI.

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Secretary Saurabh Garg said the objective of the ongoing event in Odisha is to ensure that AI, which is a new technology, should be available for the benefit of all and how that can be achieved.

"There are different aspects to it, like how different it can be accessed or used in a multilingual manner, how local data sets should be used, and how local context should be used. We are discussing those with the objective that AI is available for the benefit of every person, irrespective of whether that person themselves are aware of AI or not... When you're talking of accessing AI, you should not need to know AI or know technology itself, but how you can get the benefits of AI irrespective of whether you know that technology... Data security is an area where it is always important to ensure that necessary aspects are maintained and that is why data security, data safety, ethics are built in into the system... One of the areas that we are working on is how to ensure that multilingual context, multilingual data can be used by AI and in a manner which will ensure that every area, every culture is included in the system," Garg said.

Principal Secretary of Energy & IT Department, Govt of Odisha, Vishal Kumar Dev, asserted that Odisha is the first state in the country to have brought out an AI policy.

"We want to maintain this lead and preserve our pioneer position in the use of AI in governance... We also want to attract investments in the artificial intelligence sector...," Dev said, talking to ANI.

"The Prime Minister has envisioned the impact AI summit to be held at a grand scale in February 2026. There are three sutras he has outlined: people, planet, and progress. The motto that he has given is welfare for all, happiness for all. The idea is that artificial intelligence, or AI, has become a buzzword worldwide. The issue is how to ensure that it is utilised for the benefit of the masses. Therefore, the democratisation of AI resources becomes a vital area. When we talk of democratisation, we are talking of four things: access to AI, affordability of AI tools, equity and inclusivity."

"Therefore, the Odisha government launched the Odisha AI mission on similar lines as the India AI mission in June this year. We've identified a few priority areas, such as implementing use cases that leverage AI to enhance productivity or governance in health, education, or disaster management... The second pillar is how to enhance government productivity using AI and AI tools... Third, of course, is to ensure that people in government and the masses, at all levels, are sensitised about AI... Towards this end, again, we have tie-ups with the Wadhwani Foundation and Odisha Knowledge Corporation. We've already taken up capacity building with government servants. We are rolling out awareness programmes in colleges and schools in our state. All of these, we hope, will lead to the creation of a workforce that is AI-savvy...," he added.

India's focus is on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for solving real-world problems and ultimately improving lives across various sectors.

In this regard, the government has taken an inclusive and innovation-friendly approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance. India's AI strategy has been formed after studying legal frameworks around the world and extensive consultation with stakeholders.

A key pillar of India's AI strategy is its balanced and pragmatic techno-legal approach to regulation.

As part of this vision, India will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 from 16-20 February 2026 at New Delhi. For the first time, the global AI summit series will take place in the Global South. The shift signals a broader move toward a more inclusive global AI dialogue.

The Summit reflects India's growing role in global AI discussions. It follows the UK AI Safety Summit, the AI Seoul Summit, the Paris AI Action Summit (which India co-chaired), and the Global AI Summit on Africa.

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