Indonesia's National AI Strategy; China uses AI to protect Asia elephants

#Indonesia #AIStrategy - The Indonesia National AI Strategy, now known as Stranas KA (Strategi Nasional Kecerdasan Artifisial), was published by the government last week and announced by the country’s Minister of Research and Technology  Bambang PS Brodjonegoro. (CarringtonMalin.com)

#India #robotics - The Department of Science of Technology (DST) has sanctioned ₹170 crore ($16m) to Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) to develop a technology innovation hub on Collaborative Robotics (Cobotics). Four verticals that will be covered under the initiative: medical robotics, agriculture and disaster management, defence, and smart manufacturing. (LiveMint)

#Indonesia #R&D - Popular Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak, in collaboration with Bandung Institute of Technology, launched the country’s inaugural AI research centre. (OpenGov Asia)

#SouthKorea #robotics - URI-T, an underwater construction robot developed using South Korean technology, has been sent to Vietnam to bury gas pipelines under the sea floor. The robot is a part of an underwater construction robot development project carried out by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. (KoreaBizWire)

#SouthKorea #coronavirus - South Korea’s government is encouraging people to use contactless services, and has even coined a special term for them: ‘untact’. (The Print)

#Japan #UMS - The Japanese government hopes to see flying cars in major cities in only three years. Japan-based SkyDrive has developed a two-seater eVTOL vehicle currently at the testing stage, but is far from the only company exploring means to send our cars into the skies. Uber, Boeing, Airbus, AeroMobil, and other vendors are all exploring the VTOL space. (ZDNet)

#India #Malaysia #RPA - AirAsia has chosen Silicon Valley and Thiruvananthapuram-based Jiffy.ai platform to implement robotic process automation (RPA) in the organisation worldwide. Jiffy.ai is an RPA platform that leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. (New Indian Express)

#India #education - After a successful launch of a unique initiative to take AI to schools through ‘ATL AI Modules’, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog in collaboration with NASSCOM launched the ‘ATL AI Step Up Module’ for students on the eve of India’s Independence Day in order to drive AI education and innovation to the next level in schools across the country. (India Education Diary)

#China #US #Trump - An army of fake faces has been swarming over social media, in an effort by a mysterious pro-China group, to circulate and promote propaganda criticising Donald Trump. Appearing in the comments of Youtube videos and sharing posts on Facebook, you may not think twice about these seemingly “normal” accounts. (AI Daily)

#China #US #TikTokban - President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday evening directing ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, to divest interest in the app’s US operations within the next 90 days. (CNN)

#China #US #Huaweiban - The Trump administration is granting the Pentagon a temporary waiver of government-wide ban on contractors using Huawei and other Chinese-made telecommunications equipment, according to a memo obtained by Defense News. (Defense News)

#China #India #US #Huaweiban - India is set to become the latest country to ban Chinese telecoms vendors Huawei and ZTE from its 5G networks. New rules will prevent any bids from countries which India shares a land border with under amended investment rules that cite concerns over national security. (Telecom Tech News)

#China #conservation - The Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and Inspur Co., Ltd have joined hands to develop a world-leading system for the conservation and ecological protection of Asian elephants. Powered by AI, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and cloud computing, this system enables around-the-clock monitoring of the animals, effectively mitigating human-elephant conflict. (China.org.cn)