Banking services in all local languages in the offing

The system, using artificial intelligence and machine language, will provide information to the customer in the preferred language.

To help overcome language barriers migrant workers face while conducting banking transactions in other states, two engineers from Mumbai are creating a banking service platform which will make banking services available in all local languages. Their idea, which has been selected by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) for a Central government-sponsored support programme for startups, envisages creating a prototype to be installed in banks.

A customer can walk into a bank and interact with the machine in any given language. The system, using artificial intelligence and machine language, will then provide information to the customer in the preferred language.

The first phase of the Rs 100-crore National Initiative of Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI), was flagged off in January. More than 50 applications were received by the IIT-B’s Society for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SINE), which is coordinating the programme on behalf of the sponsor — the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Under the first scheme — NIDHI — PRAYAS (Promotion and Acceleration of Young and Aspiring Innovators and Start-ups) — 100 budding entrepreneurs will be provided technical as well as financial support this year. Across the country, 10 PRAYAS centres have been established to help budding entrepreneurs.

“These centres are each expected to support at least 10 innovators annually. SINE will release funds to the centres to be further disbursed to the innovators. At least 100 innovators will be supported under the programme in the first year,” said Poyni Bhatt, the chief operating officer of SINE. The source fund is released annually from the DST.

The selected innovators are entitled to a grant of Rs 10 lakh to realise their idea into a workable model within 18 months. The idea will then be presented to incubators. Hence, PRAYAS Centres will act as pre-incubators.

Apart from technical guidance from mentors present at each centre, innovators will also be supported to set up the Fab lab to facilitate the mechanical and digital fabrication.

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Some other ideas selected under the programme include a unique waste management and treatment system, electric bikes and and assisting device for the visually impaired, explained Bhatt.

The NIDHI-PRAYAS programme was conceptualised by the DST to address the gap in the very early stage idea/proof of concept funding. “It seeks to build an innovation-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem with the objective of socio-economic development,” said Milind Atrey, professor in-charge of SINE and a member of its governing board. Artificial intelligence, machine language, data analytics and computer intelligence are some of the fields that show potential, he added.

With the first round of selections complete, SINE is now planning to expand the programme to more places. “The plan is to open 50 PRAYAS Centres in the next five years and each centre will support 10 innovators in five years,” said Bhatt. “The programme adds to entrepreneurial ecosystem. It enables start-to-end support to potential entrepreneurs,” she said.