The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is planning to introduce an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-powered integrated dashboard with the capability to analyse recent news stories for forecasting emerging trends. The tool is expected to enhance the Ministry’s ability to swiftly respond to such trends. An AI&ML-based platform for multilingual translation and voice localisation will also be developed to facilitate efficient public dissemination of information about government initiatives.

The Ministry has requested for an Expression of Interest (EoI) by the interested parties for the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of the integrated dashboard.

“In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, staying ahead of emerging news trends is essential for effective communication and public engagement. By leveraging AI and ML technologies, the Ministry aims to deploy a cutting-edge tool that can accurately predict future media trends based on patterns identified in historical data,” said the EoI request, adding that the dashboard would provide insights for implementing corrective measures and devising citizen-oriented communication strategies.

The proposed tool is aimed at improving the Ministry’s strategic decision-making and communication strategies. “By anticipating emerging trends, the Ministry can effectively engage citizens and counter misinformation. Its proactive nature allows for swift interventions, enhancing credibility, and public trust,” said the EoI request.

Key features

Key features of the multilingual content-supported tool will include historical data analysis, language analysis, real-time awareness, customisable alerts, social media integration for observing discussions, engagement, trends, data visualisation, security measures for ensuring data integrity and confidentiality, report generation, contextual sentiment analysis, and AI-enabled decision support system providing options for implementing countermeasures or corrective actions based on media feedback.

The dashboard is expected to have the facility of updates four times a day with all the four media coverage (print, electronic, online/digital, and social); scanning of more than 100 print and over 4,000 online publications based on keywords and over 200 YouTube accounts covering 16 major regional languages; topic, sector, ministry, trend-wise data segregation and report generation; and separate feeds for Editorials and Op-Eds.

The second EoI request is for the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of the AI&ML-based platform that will have capabilities to translate, transcribe, transliterate, and localise content in at least 12 Indian languages: Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Urdu, and Assamese.

Knowledge of any of the additional 10 languages: Kashmiri, Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri, will be an advantage for any applicant agency. The platform will have a provision for adding any Indian language on a need basis.

“...the New Media Wing (NMW) of the Ministry of I&B intends to hire an agency with a portfolio of successfully implementing AI-ML-based digital platforms for multilingual translation and voice localisation (text-to-text, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and speech-to-speech) services,” said the EoI request.

Through the platform, the Ministry intends to streamline dissemination of information in various Indian languages. The work contract, to be awarded after following the due process, will be valid for an initial period of one year, which may be extended for a further period of one year.

Listing the specifications, the Ministry said they should facilitate user-friendly interactions, including video and text uploads with the capability to produce translated content in downloadable formats. The platform will support both online and offline modes of data input, accommodating legacy data from diverse physical and digital media sources.

It will have “comprehensive user interface for uploading, downloading, and editing translated content, complemented by mechanisms for leaving comments and feedback”. To ensure seamless integration, speech-to-speech translation will synchronise with original files via timestamping, with subtitles for video files.

“The AI platform should be developed as an application layer over and above Bhashini’s AI models, which enables language translations (text-text, speech-speech, text-speech, and speech-text) to be leveraged by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and other Ministries of the Government of India,” said the EoI request, adding that the platform should be designed to uphold stringent data protection measures while accommodating potential growth and expansion, also ensuring security and scalability.