Tamil Nadu government to develop state-level policy for blockchain and AI

Tamil Nadu (TN), an Indian state, is developing a state-level policy for two key emerging technologies - blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. They plan to use these to disrupt public policy and governance. The policy is yet to be approved and the officials believe it will be released in eight to ten days. Santosh Misra, CEO, TN e-Governance Agency (TNeGA), told Times of India:

We are working on separate policies on blockchain and AI. The AI policy is going to be perhaps the world’s first policy addressing safe and ethical use of AI.

He also went on saying that no state or country has introduced policies addressing the safety and ethics associated with AI. Earlier this year, the Telangana government also launched a draft Blockchain Policy for the state. Misra was speaking at the launch of CII Connect 2019, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) conference. The conference is scheduled for November 7-8 in Chennai. It aims at bringing together the state’s ICT leaders, policymakers, academics and entrepreneurs.

The AI and blockchain policies introduced by the Tamil Nadu government will help them utilize the emerging technologies for service delivery and solving governance issues. Recently, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a blockchain platform devised by the TNeGA. It aims at delivering better e-service delivery to citizens. The platform will facilitate a predictive system for government service delivery and the issue of various identity certificates without citizens having to apply for it.

An instance of the successful use of AI in the state has been an AI-powered attendance system for students in two corporation schools. Misra said: 

We are now likely to roll it out state-wide. It saves close to 45 minutes every day in the attendance process.