The Telangana state government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Deakin University to improve new technologies and future workforce development. The agreement covers applied artificial intelligence (AI), skilling, research, and innovation.

The agreement was signed on Thursday at the Telangana Secretariat by Iain Martin, President and Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University, and Phani Nagarjuna, CEO of Aikam, representing the government, Siasat reports.

According to the announcement, the MoU will focus on AI skilling and education, such as co-designed programs, executive education, and workforce training, as well as research and applied innovation, which will include translational research, academic exchange, and knowledge development in high-impact domains.

It will also involve ecosystem and industry engagement, with the goal of enabling startups, forming industry collaborations, and developing routes for commercialisation and innovation-driven growth.

“This partnership offers significant scope to develop public sector use-case applications leveraging AI, and further strengthens the India–Australia relationship,” Professor Iain Martin said.

According to Phani Nagarjuna, the partnership would help integrate applied AI research, industry engagement, and skilling, accelerating Telangana's emergence as a leader in applied AI.