'INDUSTRY NEEDS PROFESSIONALS WITH CONCEPTUALLY-STRONG, INNOVATIVE MINDSET'

Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore has recently developed an open-source Aadharlike digital identity for 10 countries, is setting up a system that makes access to mental-health support easy and working on the implementation of 6G in India. Debabrata Das, director, IIIT Bangalore, discussed innovation, collaborations and courses developed. Edited excerpts.

- Sheena Sachdeva

Q. IIIT Bangalore has collaborated with National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) to work on the delivery of mental health services.

A. Post-COVID, the issue of mental stress and illness has increased because of various social challenges. People were inside their homes due to pandemic-led lockdowns and due to this, interpersonal interactions or the social quotient has been reduced. The lack of expression and sharing of the issues led to stress and mental health issues have increased. In this competitive world, these problems are expected to increase over time.

NIMHANS is one of the pioneers in research on neuroscience and mental health-related diseases. IIITB is one of the premier institutes in the areas of technology, focused on computer science, data science, software engineering, electronics, communications and broad areas of IT as well as society. In Tele-MANAS project, IIIT Bangalore is establishing connectivity between citizens who need mental health support and hospitals, doctors and psychologists related to mental health across the country through technology. The institute has developed a network of IT-enabled systems by which citizens can dial a helpline number, the call centre will register and direct them to the concerned doctors and mental health practitioners.

We are also designing the applications and database to provide access to the doctors practising in this area. This technology also ensures the security and privacy of those whose information is stored in this network, which only concerned doctors and citizens can access.