Udacity, MapmyIndia partner to popularize self-driving ecosystem in India

NEW DELHI: India is a huge market when it comes to self-driving cars and automation. In order to promote innovation and research in the spectrum of vehicular engineering, the Indian government has proposed an amendment to the motor vehicles act, which when passed will permit testing of self-driving cars on Indian roads. This clearly shows that both the public and private sector are equally excited about this new disruption and therefore this opens up a plethora of opportunities for self-driving car engineers within the country.

It is also globally believed that Indian roads provide the best testing grounds for self-driving technology than other developed nations, as lane discipline and traffic movement is wildly erratic in the country, thereby providing more data to autonomous vehicle sensors. Also, with intelligent technology in the seat, it is also possible to reduce fatal road accidents over time. Hence, the partnership between Udacity and MapmyIndia, according to the companies, is a step towards consolidating the ecosystem and building pace for rapid and sustained growth.

Commenting on the partnership, Ishan Gupta, MD India, Udacity, said, “ We are extremely excited to be the first edu-tech company to have launched the self driving nanodegree on a global platform. Our courses on AI, self driving and machine learning are an initiative towards creating a robust workforce for dynamic job roles.”

He added, “According to reports, 10 million self driving cars will be on roads by 2020, which clearly shows that demand by  automakers, startups and technology companies for self driving car engineers is extremely high. As one of the early movers in fueling this revolution, our partnership with MapmyIndia is a sincere effort to accelerate innovation in this ecosystem and  provide a wide spectrum of opportunities for students in India.”

Udacity provides a platform for a nine months online program in self driving, where students will work on interactive projects in computer vision and robotic controls, as well as other software development skills that are required to build and develop the self-driving car technology.

MapmyIndia has been investing in developing cutting edge technology to fuel maps which can power self-driving cars, of smart cities and states and smart businesses. The partnership will provide wide career opportunities for students who take up this course and will help them solve real life job challenges.