Andhra signs MoU with Microsoft to harness cloud technology

Hyderabad, Dec 28: Andhra Pradesh government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft India to harness its cloud technology for the state's growth.

The MoU was signed during Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella's meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

An earlier statement issued by the office of the advisor, communications, Andhra Pradesh government, said that Nadella agreed to set up a centre of excellence in Visakhapatnam.

However, it later issued a revised release, according to which the government requested him to set up centre of excellence.

The meeting over breakfast at Naidu's residence lasted over an hour. It mainly centred on how Microsoft could help accelerate development process in Andhra Pradesh through deployment of IT.

Nadella showed interest in the ambitious Rs.2,500-crore e-pragathi project, an e-governance initiative, recently taken up by the state government.

The Microsoft CEO invited the state to send an IT team to Seattle to study how the technology giant's services could be utlilised for better implementation of this project.

Nadella also promised to visit his native Anantapur district during his next visit.

Nadella was born in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh but was brought up and studied in Hyderabad, which is now part of Telangana state.

Under the MoU, the state government would use technical knowledge provided by Microsoft India.

Microsoft India will support building of up to three proof-of-concept (POC) solutions to apply Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and Advanced Visualization in the fields of education, agriculture and eCitizen services.

These POC solutions will be built and deployed to address specific problems within each of the fields to achieve better outcomes for the state. It would use the lab method for data gathering, analysis, predictive analysis and policy planning.

Microsoft India will also train the state government's key IT executives on Microsoft technologies such as cloud, mobility and appropriate Microsoft technology stack.

The company will also deliver an exclusive workshop to the government's key administrative officers on improving productivity by using Microsoft technologies.

"We are committed to empowering every Indian and Indian business and government organization to achieve more," said Microsoft India MD Anil Bhansali.

In August 2015, as part of the "Badi Pilusthondi' (The School is Calling) initiative launched by the chief minister, the government and Microsoft had announced a cloud-based machine learning solution in the field of education using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Tools and Power BI. The project was implemented on pilot in Chittoor district.

The project is aimed at analyzing existing data to predict and reduce school dropouts post class 10 through early detection, timely intervention and appropriate corrective measures.

IANS