NE SCIENCE & TECH BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JULY 1
The Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) and Microsoft on Thursday jointly announced a strategic partnership to build an AI and emerging technologies Center of Excellence at AJNIFM. The collaboration seeks to explore the role of cloud, AI, and emerging technologies for transforming and shaping the future of public finance management in India.
Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (@ajnifm) partners with @Microsoft to build an #AI & Emerging Technologies Centre of Excellence;
To jointly drive cloud & AI led innovation in fintech & focus on capacity building of govt officialshttps://t.co/MIrcfzpahj pic.twitter.com/h1ea9GxTnd
— PIB in Maharashtra 🇮🇳 (@PIBMumbai) July 1, 2021
“The Center of Excellence will serve as a central body for research, AI scenario envisioning, and tech led innovation. AJNIFM and Microsoft will jointly explore use cases of emerging technologies in finance and related areas, across central and state ministries and public sector enterprises. Microsoft will partner closely with AJNIFM to define the future of public finance management in India, providing the technology, tools, and resources to build a strong ecosystem of partners, upskill government officials and build thought leadership,” the release added.
Both organizations will also work closely on a capacity building program for senior government officials in associated ministries, departments, and financial institutions. As part of this skilling effort, public sector officials will be trained on the application of emerging technologies in finance management to address potential risks like money laundering, use of machine learning models for decision making, role of responsible tech in finance, etc. Microsoft will also work closely with its partners, MSMEs, and ISVs to build customized solutions that address the challenges of the sector.
As part of the strategic partnership, Microsoft and AJNIFM will focus on:
Building an innovation center
Joint development of a Centre of Excellence at AJNIFM to drive AI envisioning in finance management across key associated ministries of AJNIFM.
Industry thought leadership
Microsoft and AJNIFM will jointly develop research papers and organize strategic knowledge sharing workshops with industry experts to discuss the role of cloud, data, and AI for re-imagining public finance management in India.
Reskilling and capacity building
Developers at AJNIFM and senior government officials from associated ministries will be skilled in data engineering, data sciences, AI, and machine learning etc.
Creating a strong ecosystem of partners
Engaging ecosystem partners, academia, and MSMEs to drive innovation in financial management based on priority scenarios.
Speaking about the partnership, Prabhat Ranjan Acharya, Director, AJNIFM, said, “The Steering Committee on fintech related issues under the chairmanship of Secretary, EA, had recommended setting up centres of excellence on fintech in key premier national institutions like AJNIFM. The ambit of research studies will seek to address key challenges in public financial management, particularly expenditure management, revenue leakages, use of emerging technologies in preventing money laundering, studying existing DBT system, and potential of application of emerging technologies including machine learning models in decision making etc. With continuous technological support from Microsoft, AJNIFM will be the only institution in the country equipped with high pedigree of financial analytical tools in the financial sector research domain.”
Commenting on this, Navtez Bal, Executive Director, Public Sector, Microsoft India, said, “AJNIFM has a long history of driving research and innovation, preparing the next generation of leaders to transform India’s finance management system. This collaboration brings together AJNIFM’s rich experience in the public sector with Microsoft’s cloud and AI capabilities, paving the way for data and AI led governance and fintech transformation. We are excited to work together to accelerate research, enable skilling in emerging tech, and invest in building a strong industry ecosystem for public finance management in the country. “
