C3.ai, Microsoft and Top Universities launch Digital Transformation Institute, Sets focus on COVID-19 Epidemic

C3.ai and Microsoft are partnering with universities are launching C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (DTI).

The public and private universities include the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

UC Berkeley and UIUC will jointly manage the Digital Transformation Institute to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence for society, businesses and governments.

Executive Opinion

CEO of C3.ai, Thomas M. Siebel, said, "The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a consortium of leading scientists, researchers, innovators, and executives from academia and industry, joining forces to accelerate the social and economic benefits of digital transformation. We have the opportunity through public-private partnership to change the course of a global pandemic,” Siebel continued. “I cannot imagine a more important use of AI."

Chief Scientist at Microsoft and C3.ai DTI Advisory Board Member, Eric Horvitz, said, "We’re excited about the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute and are happy to join on a shared mission to accelerate research at these eminent research institutions. As we launch this exciting private-public partnership, we’re enthusiastic about aiming the broader goals of the Institute at urgent challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on longer-term research that could help to minimize future pandemics."

Artificial Intelligence to deal with Pandemic like COVID-19

The partnership is also inviting proposals on the research topics in dealing with COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic with the help of Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. The research topic also includes science and technologies that are useful in mitigating future pandemics using AI.

The digital transformation institute is immediately called for proposals including the design and sharing of clinical trials for collecting data on therapies, medications, interventions, simulation, modelling, and prediction for understanding Coronavirus propagation and efficacy of interventions and logistics and optimization analysis for the design of public health strategies and more.

The strategic partnership will help harness technologies such as unlimited use of C3 AI Suite and access to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and even get access to the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC.

C3.ai DTI will focus its research on different technologies like Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, IoT, Human factors, AI, ethics, organizational behaviour, and public policy.

The institute will also support the development of data security, Machine Learning applications, and cybersecurity techniques, notes the announcement.

C3.ai revealed that the first call for proposals is now open with the deadline of 1st of May 2020.