India’s Developing AI in National Security and Defence
The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has profound implications for national security and defense.
Category Center for ICT for Development
Union Budget 2025-26: A Step Forward for Healthcare, but Execution Remains Key
The Union Budget 2025-26 has allocated approximately 10% more funds to the health sector compared with the last budget. While this increase signals a continued focus on healthcare, it is important to assess it in the right context. A significant portion of the increased allocation in previous years was due to one-time expenditures such as COVID-19 vaccination and other emergency pandemic response measures.
India’s AI Ambitions: Grand Vision, Baby Steps, and a Long Road Ahead
India is going to make available cloud computing capacity to researchers and industry at ultra-low costs per compute (jargon for a single computational operation, like running a specific algorithm). The idea is sound, and needs to be implemented, and scaled up. But it will not prevent India still being a laggard in AI.
Education, S&T, R&D and Union Budget 2025-26
On February 3, 2025, the Center for ICT for Development (CICTD), IMPRI hosted a session on “Education, Science & Technology (S&T), Research & Development (R&D) and Union Budget 2025-26.
Union Budget 2025-26: Shaping Inclusive and Future-Ready Education
The IMPRI Center for ICT for Development, IMPRI, Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, hosted an interactive panel discussion on the topic “Education, S&T, R&D Union Budget 2025-26”
The Rise and Fall of India’s Smart Cities: A Case Study of Shimla
Almost a decade has passed since the Indian government announced the concept of “smart cities” as the new lighthouses of urbanisation. The June 2015 announcement of 100 smart cities aimed to create models of urban development. However, these lighthouses of urbanity have now been relegated to the annals of India’s urbanisation history.
India Semiconductor Mission (2021): Fostering a Self-Reliant Semiconductor Industry
In order to solidify its position in the semiconductor industry and with a desire for greater self-sufficiency, India launched the National Semiconductor Mission (NSM).