The 7th edition of the International Conference on Innovative Trends in Information Technology (ICITIIT'26), organised by the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Kottayam, concluded at its Valavoor campus on March 27 and 28.

Launched in 2020, the conference has been held annually and has grown into the institute's flagship international event, drawing research contributions from across the world.

This year's edition, themed "AI, Automation, and Beyond," received 1,171 paper submissions. Of these, 159 papers were selected for presentation after peer review, marking an acceptance rate of about 14%.

Smt G Miny, Senior Scientist and Director (Technologies) at the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi, inaugurated the conference. She spoke on the role of artificial intelligence in sectors such as defence, healthcare, business and banking, and highlighted its use in improving coordination and decision-making in defence systems.

Dr B S Manoj, Senior Professor and Associate Dean at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, attended as the Guest of Honour. He underlined the importance of innovation in addressing local challenges and referred to India’s position in the Global Innovation Index.

The conference featured keynote lectures, technical sessions and panel discussions on areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, cybersecurity and other emerging technologies.

The organisers said the conference aimed to promote academic collaboration and encourage research focused on real-world applications.