Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), a body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIT BHU, organised a Tech Conclave on "AI for Health & Assistive Technologies" at IIT BHU, Varanasi. Government representatives, academics, healthcare professionals and startups attended to examine how artificial intelligence can widen healthcare access, improve accessibility and support inclusion.
The sessions kept returning to how research moves into products that reach people, and which institutions can help it do so.
MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan, delivering the keynote, said AI can make healthcare more accessible, strengthen clinical decision-making and improve service delivery, particularly for communities with limited access to care. He named disease screening, medical diagnostics, remote ICU monitoring and AI-assisted surgical planning as applications that can improve accessibility, affordability and quality of care.
Krishnan called for AI education across disciplines and for using the convergence of technology, medical sciences and research to build practical solutions. He encouraged closer collaboration among IIT (BHU), STPI, industry and startups. He also pointed to the support available under the IndiaAI Mission and other MeitY initiatives, and said STPI's role is to connect startups with investors, venture capital networks and market opportunities.
STPI Director General Arvind Kumar spoke of the growth of India's IT/ITeS industry since 1991, in which he said STPI played a major part. He said the same success could be repeated in AI through indigenous innovation and entrepreneurship. Students once aspired mainly to campus placements, he said, whereas today's startup ecosystem lets young innovators become job creators.
Citing STPI's industry linkages and its 27 Centres of Entrepreneurship, Kumar stressed translational research, intellectual property creation and market access. He also said startup ecosystems need to be strengthened in emerging regions beyond established technology hubs, through collaboration among academic institutions, industry and government.
IIT BHU Director Amit Patra described the CIIE as a structured institutional framework to nurture entrepreneurial thinking among students, faculty and aspiring innovators, so that ideas can become viable startups. He said such entrepreneurs need to be connected with multiple funding sources, and that a sustainable pipeline of startups has to be built.
Two panels followed. The first, "Empowering Citizens Through AI: Health, Inclusion & Well-being", included faculty from IIT BHU's departments of computer science and engineering, physics, biomedical engineering and pharmaceutical engineering and technology, along with a startup founder and an STPI Additional Director. It looked at how AI can support more accessible and inclusive healthcare.
The second, "From Innovation to Impact: Translating AI Research into Scalable Healthcare & Assistive Solutions", covered the journey from research to practical products. Its participants were a MeitY Director, a faculty member from the Centre of Biostatistics at IMS-BHU, a Scientific Officer from BioNest BHU, a startup founder and the chief operating officer of the STPI MedTech Centre of Entrepreneurship at SGPGIMS, Lucknow.
The organisers said the conclave reinforced the need for collaboration among government, academia, healthcare institutions and startups. STPI and the CIIE said they aim to continue engagement, research translation and entrepreneurship support to build an innovation ecosystem for practical, responsible and scalable technology.
Which one of the following best describes the role of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) as stated by the MeitY Secretary at the Tech Conclave held at IIT BHU, Varanasi?
With reference to the Tech Conclave on "AI for Health & Assistive Technologies" held at IIT BHU, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following information:
| Person | Position | Point made at the conclave | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | S. Krishnan | Secretary, MeitY | Called for AI education across disciplines |
| 2. | Arvind Kumar | Director General, STPI | Said India's IT/ITeS growth since 1991 could be repeated in AI |
| 3. | Amit Patra | Director, IIT BHU | Said STPI should open Centres of Entrepreneurship in emerging regions |
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
