HYDERABAD: Arun Kumar and Ashutosh had left their jobs with Microsoft to start their startup and named it Urban Brain Technologies, which aimed to solve the traffic congestion problem prevailing in Tier-I cities using AI. They are ready to unveil their pilot as they have recently graduated from the ‘i2e Lab’ (innovation to entrepreneurship) Lab run by the Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC) and Make Room India.
They were among the eight teams which came up with ideas of social innovation which have the potential to solve problems faced by people on a daily basis by the use of technology. The participants of the four-month-long programme have found ways to address primary dysmenorrhea, address mental health issues in students, curtail air pollution and found innovative ways for farm mechanisation and even using the Internet of Things to help farmers grow mushrooms.
“Traffic congestion has an economic impact. For example, data shows that the people in Bengaluru waste 60 crore hours per day in travel, which is a loss in productivity. People there spend Rs 3,700 crore on petrol annually. Add to it the amount spent by governments on building highways and skyways, we felt the best solution was to use AI by monitoring CCTV cameras on roads to operate traffic lights,” Arun informed Express.
“To make Telangana a hub for problem-solvers, we believe i2e Lab’s focused approach in bringing in the resources and connecting it to opportunities with the government is the greatest advantage of the programme,” said Annie Vijaya, Head-Sustainability Office, TSIC.