S. Vishnu Sharma
American Express established Data Analytics, Risk and Technology (DART) Laboratory on the premises of IIT Madras on 3 September.
The laboratory by American Express will establish itself as a world class hub of research in risk analytics and behavioural sciences by leveraging Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence (ML/AI) and related technologies.
American Express establishes great DART Lab at IIT Madras
The DART lab of American Express will also focus on risks that originate from human behavior and decisions.
The overarching goal of the lab is to engineer technologies to best manage risk by developing a science-based understanding of humans’ strengths and weaknesses.
The lab of American Express will also build talent for industry by partnering with academia.
The establishment of the lab has been undertaken through a grant by American Express to promote talent and diversity in Technology.
American Express has also instituted annual scholarships for economically-disadvantaged and meritorious students, including ‘Ambition Awards’ for deserving women students at IIT Madras.
The launch event video can be viewed here – ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0xH4TaBzZ8&feature=youtu.be’
Senior vice president and CEO of American Express Banking Corp (India) Manoj Adlakha said everything they do at American Express – their products, their service, their technology, their people, their innovations – is all about providing the powerful backing and support to help people thrive.
‘With a global footprint and diverse customer base, we believe we have a responsibility to support the communities in which our customers and colleagues live, work, and care about.’
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They are proud to partner with the country’s premier academic institution to invest in the future of cutting-edge data science and analytics research, he said.
We are also thrilled to announce Ambition scholarships and awards for meritorious women students that underlines our focus on fostering diverse talent, he said.
Earlier this year, American Express commissioned a global survey in partnership with The New York Women’s Foundation to explore and understand the relationship of university-educated working women with ‘Ambition’.
The survey found that Indian women’s commitment to achieving professional and personal ambitions ranked the highest – with 89 percent of university-educated women in India believing it is important to have ambitions and 70 percent proud to call themselves ambitious.
Bharathram Thothadri, EVP and Chief Credit Officer, American Express speaking during the inauguration said that at American Express, they have a rich history of using data and analytics to build customer relationships and bring value to customers and partners.
Equally, they are invested in finding and developing the right talent to drive greater innovation in this field, he said.
‘The collaboration of American Express with IIT Madras reiterates their commitment to support and invest in interventions for public good in the country.’
The technologies and applied sciences R&D in the Lab will be beneficial for creating an overall societal impact through advancement in financial services, healthcare and safety standards.
The American Express Awards will identify and reward female talent in the field of engineering and technology as well as budding talent in data science, he said.
DART laboratory of American Express will explore a range of verticals with key emphasis on manufacturing, finance, healthcare, operations management and smart cities.
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The lab by American Express seeks to become a leader in the risk and behavioural sciences eco-system.
Most real-world systems ranging from aviation, finance, manufacturing, public health, and smart cities, rely on sophisticated automation, but people play a critical role in operating, monitoring and managing them.
The lab was inaugurated by IIT Madras director Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi.
He said that IIT Madras is delighted to receive this generous grant from American Express for setting up the Data Analytics, Risk and Technology Laboratory, and for creating several scholarships and awards for women in Science, Engineering and Technology.
The DART Lab will focus on bringing data analytics to bear on problems arising due to the interplay of human factors and inherent risk or uncertainty in the work environment due to unknown or partial information.
The scholarships and awards will encourage our women students to excel in STEM and pursue enriching careers at the post-graduate level.
We look forward to continued support from American Express for growing these efforts in the coming years, said Bhaskar Ramamurthi.
The research at DART will focus on the human dimension – developing a science-based understanding of humans’ strengths and weaknesses in various contexts.
The research at DART will develop technologies to measure the cognition and attention of the decision-makers and prevent potential accidents in high-risk industries.
The same technologies can be applied across dimensions such as employee engagement and attention, evaluating and enhancing the quality of education and learning in school, especially in online classes as being administrated during the pandemic where teachers are unable to read the body language of students.
The research from the Lab including findings, research, algorithms and tools will be publicly available to be used for government collaborations and education advancements.
Couple of scholarships are also being offered as a part of grant to IIT Madras from American Express.
The scholarships are:
$ American Express Ambition Scholarship for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology – tuition fees scholarship for top female student from disadvantaged economic background
$ American Express Ambition Award for Women for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Technology in Bachelor’s program to top female student in the graduating batch of B.Tech/B.E Courses
$ American Express Ambition Award for Women for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Technology in Master’s program to top female student in the graduating batch of Masters/M.Tech/MSC/M.S course
$ American Express Emerging Leadership Award for Excellence in Data Science (Pre-Final) to top student in the Data Science course in the pre-final year
$ American Express Leadership Award for Excellence in Data Science (Final) to top student in the Data Science Course in the final year