Google Collaborates with Indian Organizations to Propel AI-Driven Solutions in Healthcare and Sustainability

Google has announced new AI-powered partnerships to enhance healthcare, sustainability, and agriculture in India. With collaborations spanning diabetic retinopathy screening to urban waste management, these initiatives aim to transform lives in resource-limited communities, advancing AI's role in sustainable development.

In an ambitious move to leverage artificial intelligence for social impact, Google has announced multiple new partnerships designed to tackle healthcare, sustainability, and agricultural challenges in India. The tech giant is teaming up with both local and international organizations to deploy AI-driven solutions for diabetic retinopathy screening, urban waste management, and agricultural development.

The announcements coincided with a recent roundtable event in Bengaluru, celebrating the fifth anniversary of Google's Research Lab located in the city. This follows the Google for India event's 10th edition, where Google's executives underscored AI's enormous potential to transform lives, empower businesses, and foster societal development. "Our collaboration with key Indian organizations is pivotal," remarked Dr. Manish Gupta, Research Director of Google DeepMind, "focusing on language understanding, healthcare, agriculture, and sustainability to address unique challenges and create AI-led solutions that impact billions positively."

One significant collaboration includes efforts with Forus Health and AuroLab in India, as well as Perceptra in Thailand, to provide six million AI-assisted screenings for diabetic retinopathy in the next decade. These initiatives aim to prevent blindness in diabetic patients, especially in under-resourced areas. The AI model has already facilitated over 600,000 screenings globally, initiated in India. Sunny Virmani, Group Product Manager at Google Health AI Research, emphasized the commitment from research to real-world impact, "The partnerships are propelling our mission to eradicate preventable blindness due to diabetic retinopathy on a global scale." Additionally, Google's CircularNet, a computer vision model aiding urban waste management, is being rolled out in partnership with Bengaluru's Saahas Zero Waste, fostering more efficient recycling processes.

CircularNet's application helps in distinguishing and sorting plastic waste, thereby supporting landfills and enhancing revenue for material recovery facilities by 10-12%. Powered by Google's TensorFlow, the model achieved an 85% accuracy in identifying plastic waste during trials. Meanwhile, Google's Agricultural Landscape Understanding Research API is set to offer farm-level insights through satellite imagery and machine learning, aiming to support optimal resource distribution and sustainable farming methodologies in India. This driving force in technological innovation shows a promising path forward for data-driven decision-making in the agricultural sector. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)