At a recent summit hosted by Facebook, the social-media giant announced the India Innovation Accelerator programme. Within this programme, it will lend support to startups that are making use of AI to ensure women’s safety, and to bring about positive developments in the areas of agriculture, education, healthcare, and climate change.
Facebook’s recently introduced Facebook Hubs initiative will be holding application-based AI training sessions for the benefit of startups across 20 locations in India. The mentor hours and training and workshop sessions under this initiative will help startups and entrepreneurs scale their businesses.
The Company will also be offering scholarships to 100 students and developers who will be working on ways to use AI for social good. The scholarships will allow the students to gain from advanced courses on Deep Learning.
The announcement was made at the AI for Social Good summit, at Bangalore where Facebook announced several programmes focussed on delivering social and inclusive growth with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies.
The one-day summit was attended by AI thought-leaders, start-ups, NGOs, and developers.
As part of its contribution to social good, Facebook has a blood donation tool, which c. It is a platform where donors can register themselves, and already boasts of over 35 million registered donors across the world. The platform connects blood banks and hospitals these donors.
A survey by Facebook in collaboration with blood banks in India and Brazil revealed that one in five people admitted to being influenced by Facebook in terms of their decision to donate blood.
Facebook is also doing its bit to ensure diversity by announcing the ‘Women in AI Hackathons’. These are aimed at encouraging women developers and women-led startups who work in the AI domain. The winners will be offered an opportunity to take courses in AI and ML conducted by the professors of ÌIT, Madras.
