STeSNE workshop lays stress on multilingual scerio of NE states

 From OUR Correspondent

Silchar, Feb 24: The two-day workshop on Speech Technology Solutions for North Eastern states of India (STeSNE) - 2017 began on a high note at NIT, Silchar today. The workshop has been jointly organized by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Kolkata, CDAC, Silchar and tiol Institute of Technology (NIT) Silchar under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, (MeitY). The Advanced Speech Processing Section of CDAC, Kolkata along with CDAC Silchar and NIT Silchar, has organized the workshop program on speech technology based solutions for Northeast.

 In his welcome speech, Dr barun Bhattacharya, director, CDAC, Kolkata, said, “The workshop will focus on the nuances of technology and how it can help in computing in Indian languages. The sole objective of this workshop is to sensitize the young minds to do research work in this field so that real and deployable technology can be invented and updated on speech.”

 Dr Bhattacharya further said that the essence of such workshops lies in the application of technology in both online and offline discussions. He advised researchers and students to come forward with new and innovative conceptual ideas and explore new horizons. “It will be highly commendable if anyone brings forth a conceptual blueprint for development, especially for the NE States,” he added . Speaking as the chief-guest, Dr Rajat Gupta, director, NIT, Silchar, said that NIT, Silchar has come a long way since its inception in 1967.

 “We will not sit back or restrict our movements. We want to excel in all aspects. It is highly commendable that two NE states, Tripura and Mizoram, top the list among the most literate states of the country. NE has always been a neglected part of India. On the contrary, this region is home to a number of talented individuals who need proper guidance and platform," said Dr Gupta. He further said that Assam is lagging behind from rest of the states of the country. “33 lakhs households do not have electricity and 1100 villages are yet to be electrified in Assam. The state has produced some of the greatest mes, Mary Kom, Deepa Karmakar and Baichung Bhutiya. Everyone has been blessed with a unique talent, they just need a platform,” he added to say.

 Prof Tapan Kumar Basu said that the effort taken by CDAC, Kolkata is appreciable. "The purpose of this workshop is to,” said Prof Basu, “to inspire UG to Ph. D level students to do research in their own languages.”

 Talking to The Sentinel, Dr barun Bhattacharya said, “Science, technology and research are our religions and we practice it with full devotion. We conduct frontier research in the field of electronics, ICT and advance computer. Speech technology research is very essential and important area that it cannot be done by a handful of institutes or a couple of research groups. Our first objective is to dissemite information that such technology research is important and young researchers from this region should feel interested in this area of research and then acquaint them with it so they can take it further specially for the diverse field of NE languages.”