Access the circular here: [scanned PDF (original)| machine-readable document] 

The technical wing of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC), is forming a new National Working Group (NWG) on AI-related standardisation.

Who can join? DoT is inviting representatives from industry, academia, research organisations, startups, and government organisations to participate in the working group and contribute to AI standards development.

Nominations must be submitted by July 7, 2026, and emailed to [email protected], with a copy to [email protected].

What the DoT’s AI Working Group will do:

• Identify and monitor AI-related issues: Track AI-related questions, work items, and standardisation activities across ITU-T Study Groups.
• Strengthen India’s participation in AI standardisation: Contribute to international AI standardisation efforts within the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T).
• Promote coordination and consensus-building: Foster collaboration among stakeholders while protecting India’s national interests.

The circular mentions the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) in the context of why the NWG is being formed, but it does not provide further details about the organisation itself.

In February 2022, TEC released a draft titled “Fairness Assessment and Rating of Artificial Intelligence Systems.” The document aimed to provide guidance on measuring and mitigating unintended biases in AI/ML deployment and advocated greater transparency through disclosure requirements.

The draft is no longer available on TEC’s website. MediaNama’s 2022 report on the proposal can be accessed here.

Also Read; 

• New Standards Set to Tackle AI Bias in India’s Tech Landscape  
• India Releases AI Incident Reporting Standard for Telecom 
• TEC report on how AI can tackle telecom challenges