There is high demand for professionals skilled in statistical data analysis across diverse industries & government: ISI Director

"Statistics must have a clearly defined purpose, one aspect of which is scientific advance and the other, human welfare and national development," so said Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis, founding father of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in 1931 (17 December).

- RITWIK MUKHERJEE

Ninety-five years down the road, ISI on 203 Barrackpore Trunk Road, is still driven by the same philosophy, same mission. This unique institution devoted to the research, teaching and application of statistics, natural sciences and social sciences, gained the status of an Institution of National Importance by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1959.

Research in Statistics and related disciplines is the primary activity of the Institute with its centers in Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Tezpur. Other than teaching, the institute is also engaged in research, projects and consultancy in Statistical Quality Control and Operations Research.

Dr. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, a computational biologist and professor at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata, is the current Director of the institute, overseeing all five ISI centers and other units across India, and is the first woman to hold this position.

Speaking to The Statesman, Dr. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Director, ISI, outlines the premier institute's current and future growth trajectory and explains how in this new era of data science, AI, ML, ISI is well set to move to the next level.

Excerpts:

Q: Ericsson Research and the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) have recently firmed up a collaboration for three years, which aims at conducting joint research on safe and reliable cyber-physical systems (CPS). The two organizations will also set up a collaborative research center known as the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems (C-CPS). What was the idea behind this? What is the current status of this center? And how would the ISI-Ericsson research center benefit academic study and industry in the long run?

A: Ericsson Research and the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) have recently formalized a collaboration for three years. This aims at conducting joint research on safe and reliable cyber-physical systems (CPS).