Telangana launches the Telangana Data Exchange, becoming the first state to do so. TGDeX aims to solve AI innovation challenges. It offers datasets, resources, and models in a secure environment. The platform is a collaboration between the state government, JICA, and IISc Bangalore. The goal is to connect data to decision-making and talent to opportunity.

HYDERABAD: Telangana has become the first state in the country to roll out the Telangana Data Exchange (TGDeX) to address challenges hampering AI innovation such as access to clean, usable datasets, subsidised compute infrastructure and institutional pathways to scale beyond proof-of-concept.

TGDeX will bring together high-quality ‘AI-ready’ datasets, subsidised GPU resources, open-source AI&ML models, and real-world problem statements into a single secure, scalable environment, Telangana govt said on Wednesday.

The platform has been developed by the emerging technologies wing of the ITE&C department of the state government with strategic support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), JICA DXLab and their though partner Boston Consulting Group as well as the Centre of Data for Public Good at IISc Bangalore.

In addition, T-Hub and Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM) also provided value added services such as mentorship and access to markets and funding through grand challenges.

Launching TGDeX, IT & industries minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu said: “We are building a digital bridge connecting data to decision making and bridging talent to opportunity. With TGDeX, we are launching a national blueprint for inclusive AI infrastructure.”

He urged startups to build, institutions to experiment, departments to contribute datasets, mentors to guide innovators and civil society to co-create along with the state govt.

ITE&C department special chief secretary Sanjay Kumar said TGDeX will also promote grassroots innovation. “With TGDeX, we are enabling a future where a startup in Adilabad can access the same AI-building resources as someone in Hyderabad. We have more than 20 departments on board already and aim to have all departments contribute to TGDeX in the next few months. I want to get all innovators and think tanks to use data and find solutions to improve the lives of 3 million people in Telangana,” he said.

On the occasion a joint whitepaper by the state govt and JICA, outlining the journey of TGDeX and lessons for other states, was also unveiled. “This whitepaper aims to serve as a blueprint for how states and other countries in the Global South can build similar platforms tailored to local needs,” said JICA India chief representative Takeuchi Takuro.