Bhubaneswar, July 7 (UNI) A four-day-long workshop on “AI Champions for Digital Transformation” for government officials was held here on Monday to build institutional readiness and capacity, enabling government departments to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) for enhancing public service delivery and governance outcomes.
It may be noted here that the Odisha Government recently notified the Odisha AI Policy 2025 and is actively advancing its key focus areas, ranging from computer infrastructure, skilling and capacity building, innovation, application development, and dataset curation.
The Electronics and Information Technology (E&IT) Department, in collaboration with Wadhwani Foundation, is organising the workshop.
“This is a critical programme under the broader roadmap of the Odisha AI Mission. It is designed to empower government officials to take a leadership role in advancing the Mission, not only within their respective departments, but also in contributing to the state’s vision of becoming a front-runner in AI”, said Secretary Electronics and Information Technology (E&IT) Department Vishal Dev.
The workshop is designed to equip government officers with the knowledge and tools required to conceptualise and implement scalable AI solutions within their respective Departments.
Sessions covered key concepts in AI and Machine Learning, including Generative AI tools and their applications in complex data analysis and content generation, as well as various implementation models.
Participants explored real-world use cases such as an AI tool for pest control management, a vision-based application to improve road traffic monitoring, and a system to assess nutritional levels in mid-day meals, among others.
The workshop also included discussions on how government officials can identify and define departmental problem statements and explore AI-based solutions using structured approaches
such as the DMAIC and SMART frameworks.
In addition, sessions focused on the distinction between digitisation and digital transformation and introduced structured methodologies to transition from ideas to Proofs of Concept (PoCs), pilot implementations, and eventually, scalable solutions.
As a next step, participants will consolidate their learnings by identifying relevant governance challenges and continue to collaborate with the Wadhwani Foundation for technical evaluation and refinement.
The state is actively working with institutions such as IIT Bhubaneswar, BHASHINI, and NASSCOM to implement key AI initiatives.
Through this workshop, the Government seeks to build awareness and capacity within departments, launch AI pilot projects, and lay the groundwork for institutionalising AI-led governance across sectors.
These efforts are aligned with Odisha’s vision to emerge as a national leader in AI innovation and ensure the responsible adoption of emerging technologies, said the officials.
The workshop was attended by, among others, by Secretary E&IT Department, Vishal Kumar Dev, Executive Director, Centre for Modernising Government Initiative (CMGI), General Administration and Public Grievance Department, Vineet Bhardwaj, Special Secretary of E&IT Department, Manas Ranjan Panda, senior officials from various departments, representatives from the Wadhwani Foundation, and other key stakeholders from Odisha’s digital governance ecosystem.
