India Unveils Groundbreaking AI Strategies at Inaugural AI Summit

At the India AI Impact Summit, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda, introduced two significant national initiatives aimed at revolutionizing the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare. Titled the Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India (SAHI) and Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI (BODH), these programs are integral steps towards enhancing India’s AI-driven healthcare landscape, as announced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. SAHI serves as a guidance framework to foster the ethical and supportive use of AI in India's healthcare system.

The SAHI framework is designed to provide strategic governance, oversight for data, and support the validation and deployment of AI solutions throughout the healthcare sector. Meanwhile, BODH, a collaborative creation by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the National Health Authority, guarantees a transparent evaluation of AI models using real-world health data. Significantly, it offers a privacy-preserving approach, ensuring datasets remain protected.

Against this backdrop, the Summit has emerged as the first AI-focused gathering held in the Global South and includes influential global figures, from 20 heads of state to 60 ministers and over 500 AI experts. The event aims to catalyze AI application from dialog to action, particularly under India's Digital India initiative. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to open the Summit, which spans a remarkable 70,000 square meters, featuring 600 startups and expecting over 2.5 lakh attendees.