By Gairika Mitra
How is Archeron Group collaborating with state governments to implement solutions in the agriculture and healthcare space?
A thought leader in artificial intelligence and quantum technology, Archeron Group is driving disruptive innovations across multiple sectors with a view transform the world for the better. The group has made use of its cutting edge solutions to collaborate with various governments and organisations globally such as Amazon Web Services, NASA, ISRO, MIT, Harvard Medical School, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention.
Our larger objective for the healthcare space, for which we are collaborating with multiple governments across the world, is to provide AI based automated diagnostic triage with a focus on rural medicine. We have done so by developing and deploying a national radiology and pathology platform in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Prevention, UAE which was unveiled at Arab Health 2020. We now intend to deploy these solutions in India and are in conversations with the Ministry of Health and a couple of state governments, including the Andhra Pradesh Government to create remote rural healthcare diagnostic platform.
We have also developed a global agricultural platform with a specific focus on India using deep learning and remote sensing data acquired from NASA and European Space Agencies. This platform will help the farmers substantially increase their yields and productivity while operating within their existing infrastructural setup. This platform is slated to be used as a food security platform by multiple governments and multilateral agencies.
We have initiated conversations with the agricultural ministry at both central and state levels. We intend to contribute towards the targets set by the government such as doubling farmer income and productivity by 2022, along with streamlining the agricultural export markets and implementing the latest deregulatory changes to enable the farmers to directly connect with the global agri marketplace.
Our Global Artificial Intelligence Development and Delivery Centre is in Bengaluru, where all of the solutions are developed and taken globally. It is responsible for creating the group’s entire solution portfolio which it has been able to take to the Middle East (UAE and KSA), North America, and European Union. Archeron Group’s researchers based in Bengaluru focus on developing next generation solutions which are integrated into the system of existing clients. The centre also focuses on developing integrated software platforms and solutions for industries to design workflows by using blockchain, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and quantum cryptography.
Please share Archeron Group’s vision to transform the lives of farmers through AI enabled Credit rating automation and other AgTech solutions
At Archeron, a multi-sensor and multi-satellite approach is taken to create unique solutions in the agriculture space. The agri solutions are created by using synthetic aperture radar and hyperspectral datasets from multiple satellites along with Landsat by NASA and Sentinal by ESA. This allows us to create a data fusion based insight model for agriculture through solutions such as sown crop acreage estimation for crop rotation practices, optimal crop harvest time estimation for supply chain integration, crop yield estimation for commodity and trade markets, crop classification and diversity mapping for biodiversity assessment, crop damage assessment for insurance claims, water stress index for precision agriculture, decision support system for disbursal of agricultural loans, insurance, and subsidies.
Our approach towards credit rating in agriculture is based on primary observational data using satellite imagery rather than the current protocol of using secondary data where crop details and yield is gathered in the form of a voluntary survey.
How are your AI and Quantum enabled solutions further complementing the healthcare sector?
We have a two-pronged approach for the healthcare sector, which we have been implementing for the past three years. Firstly, our aim is to diagnose a billion people by 2025 using AI with a focus on the rural sector and emerging markets. Here we provide software based AI solutions on top of the existing hardware. For instance, in the UAE, our AI software solution identifies tuberculosis in chest X rays, the hardware for which is provided by the government. In emerging markets and rural markets where a suite of hardware is not present, we solve the problem by deploying our own healthcare kiosks. This integrated strategy with a focus on rural and emerging markets will help us treat a billion patients by 2025.
Our other focus area is the field of genomics and Crispr Cas-9. We are currently in the process of starting clinical trials on animals with an aim to solve blood and brain cancer. We will be doing clinical trials in the USA, UAE and India, subject to regulatory approvals, in the field of CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) T cell therapy using Crispr Cas-9. If admitted to human clinical trials by end of 2020, this will be the fourth clinical trial globally where Crispr Cas-9 is being used in oncology treatment using immunotherapy. The objective is to enhance body’s own immune system to fight and kill cancer kills.
Additionally we are developing an intelligent Kiosk with COVID detection facilities. This is a touchless diagnostic healthcare kiosk which can provide a holistic and complete diagnosis and treatment of a person using AI.
What’s the future roadmap set for the group?
Archeron Group has built four years’ worth of IP and research that places it alongside with some of the biggest names in the world that are ahead of the curve when it comes to quantum computing and AI. In India, Archeron Group is exploring various collaborations with the state and central government for its solutions such as AI based rural diagnostic support infrastructure, AI enabled TB identification by aligning with the government’s plans to eradicate the disease by 2025 and world’s first AI enabled bank. The group has also built its quantum cryptography solutions with a view to strengthen the payments infrastructure in India and making them secure and un-hackable. The group plans to make significant investments in India and more than triple its workforce in the country over the next couple of years.