Bhubaneswar, December 17 (IANS). The Government of Odisha will host the Regional AI Impact Conference on December 19-20, which will usher in a larger national level conversation on Artificial Intelligence in Governance and Public Service Delivery.
The state electronics and IT department held the curtain raiser of the conference on Wednesday, giving an early glimpse of Odisha’s AI vision, policy direction and growing portfolio of real-world AI deployments.
Speaking on the occasion, Electronics and IT Minister Mukesh Mahaling said that the state is working towards a future of technology-based development. He said Odisha is creating a responsible and investor-friendly environment for large-scale AI adoption through the AI Policy 2025 as well as progressive policies in Fintech, Global Capability Centers and Advanced Electronics.
He stressed that Odisha’s focus is on creating a complete innovation ecosystem through strong governance, advanced digital capabilities and long-term policy stability.
Mahalinga further said that before the India Impact AI Summit in February, regional AI summits will be organized in eight states including Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. He told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has planned to make Odisha the hub of Artificial Intelligence in India.
Keeping in mind the Odia identity, the state government under the leadership of the Chief Minister will implement a language program aimed at making Odia content accessible to the common people in an easy-to-use digital format.
He said that the Regional AI Impact Conference has two main objectives. First, it is linked to the India AI Impact Summit to be led by the Prime Minister in February 2026. Second, the conference is based on sustainability and inclusive growth, which will be organized under the “Three P’s – Planet, People and Progress”, with sector-focused discussions.
Highlighting Odisha’s priorities, Mahalinga said the state has identified key government departments for AI-driven initiatives, including health, education, disaster management, culture, parliamentary affairs and women and child welfare.
AI tools will be used to improve program implementation, monitoring and policy guidance in these areas.
The minister also announced a major initiative to promote Odia language through AI and digital platforms. In the “Bhasha Dham” program to be launched by the Chief Minister, Odia language content will be made available on the internet with the help of AI tools. Under this program, contributions will be sought from Odia scholars, professors, artists and writers in creating high quality Odia content and making it available in digital form.
–IANS
AMT/DKP
