Smart India Hackathon is Driving India's Talent Revolution
Credit: CGU Odisha

Smart India Hackathon is Driving India's Talent Revolution

The government of India runs the world's biggest open innovation platform

Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is a nationwide initiative by the Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell (MIC) to promote the culture of product innovation, problem-solving, and out-of-the-box thinking among students.

This year we are in the fifth edition of the SIH. To date, the world's largest hackathon has received participation from 15 lakh students contributing 6,535 solution ideas for 2,145 problem statements of the government, ministries, departments, and industries.

Our honorable prime minister started this initiative with a vision to promote a spirit of innovation. He has given so much importance to education knowing that only education is a way forward to make our nation prosperous. We have a new formula to shape the future of our nation,

IT x IT = IT^2 which means Indian Talent x Information Technology = India Tomorrow.?

“Your innovative mindset will take India to the top in next 25 years”
-Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi

A privilege to experience the SIH2022 as Nodal Center Head

During 25-29th August, about 15,000 finalists selected from 2 lakh participants were gathered at the 75 Nodal Centers (NCs) to find smart software and hardware solutions to 476 problems faced in our daily lives that are sponsored by 53 ministry organizations. In a way, this is a step forward to eradicating problems in our country. A big deal, right?

Thanks to my friend Pratap Sanap Ph.D. , the SIH executive committee member, I had an opportunity to be part of the hackathon. It was my honor to represent the MIC as a nodal center head for CV Raman Global University (CGU), Odisha. Overall, my responsibility was to ensure the smooth conduct of the event at the assigned nodal center.

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CGU Odisha hosted 200+ participants from 26 teams. These teams competed for software solutions to interesting problem statements given by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

The four winning teams at CGU Odisha came up with creative and high-quality solutions to MoRD problem statements, such as -

  1. Mechanism to help rural people to self-select for receiving benefits offered under the government scheme
  2. Algorithm estimating percentage match for beneficiaries from multiple government schemes databases
  3. Attendance at work sites for MGNREGA workers using IRIS-based attendance monitoring system
  4. Provide real-time information on housing typologies for areas selected by individuals for house construction

What made the winning teams stand out

I had a tremendous experience discussing the innovative solutions developed by participants. Identifying the winner was not an easy task as all teams had something unique and thoughtful in their solutions. Here are a few things that gave winning teams an edge over others.

  • Demonstrated a clear understanding of the problem statement. Winning teams looked at the problems holistically than the others with a narrow approach. A team considered multiple ways for self-selection of eligible government schemes e.g. direct enrolment using the portal or mobile apps, along with SMS and call-center support for non-savvy rural people.
  • Communicated solution approach and outcomes persuasively. Winning teams used crisp, visually appealing, storyboarded narratives to convey their approaches. A participating team even performed a dramatized skit to describe the problem of matching scheme beneficiaries in multiple databases.?
  • Implemented the suggestions from the mentors and the jury panel. Top performing teams worked on the suggestions and showed steady improvement in their solution through all three rounds of evaluation.
  • Showcased a working prototype of the solution. Rather than just painting an idea on paper, the winning teams packaged their solution as a demonstrable tool e.g. dashboard, web portal, or mobile app. ?
  • Conveyed the limitations and areas for further development. Winning teams acknowledged the limitations of their solution and had a plan to further refine their solution.

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Although winners demonstrated the above attributes, of course, there is room for improvement. Here are a few observations on which the teams can work to further strengthen their standing.

  • Get the context from sponsors of the problem statements. Before starting solution development, the participating teams could connect with the sponsors to better understand the problem's context and the need for the solution. The SIH core team can enable an early interlock between the sponsors and the participants.
  • Come outside the developer mindset. Participants showed exemplary developer prowess by leveraging various technologies, such as HTML, AngularJS, and Flutter for front-end development; NodeJS, and PHP for back-end; MySQL for a database; Python for machine learning, and so on. However, in some cases, this was at the cost of recognizing the purpose of the problem. Remember, technology is the means to the solution and not the solution itself.
  • Focus on the outcomes to be achieved. I encourage teams to recognize the “so-what” of their solution. How the solution will help the ministry achieve the intended outcomes is important. A team implemented complex machine learning algorithms to match beneficiaries from multiple schemes. They could take it to the next level by enabling the workflow for actions by authorities e.g. approving schemes based on the utilization of the other schemes.?

Promising future for youth to innovate and shine lies ahead

The SIH is ingenious, engaging, futuristic, collaborating, and empowering. The popularity of the SIH is continuously rising as seen by a four-fold increase in the student participation rate since its inception in 2017. This year, the SIH Junior was also piloted for school students.

Besides the SIH, several other policies and programs are driving the spirit of innovation. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has a roadmap for creating a strong foundation for innovation.?The initiatives like Atal Innovation Mission , Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations (AGNIi) , and iCreate are driving innovation at various levels.

All this presents enormous opportunities for India's young talent to shine. Indeed, the revolutionary time for talent to make innovation a way of life is here!

“Research and innovation must be transformed from the way of working to the way of living”
- Hon'ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modi

Acknowledgments

I would like to congratulate all the participants and the winners for participating in the hackathon with full energy and dedication.

I'm thankful to CGU ODISHA Nodal Center In-charge Prof. Prof. (Dr.) Priyadarshi Kanungo , the entire staff including Prof. Dr. Rojalina Priyadarshini , Prof. Dr. Sukant K. Bisoy , Prof. Dr. Surendra Kumar Nanda, Debendra Muduli , Prof. Dr. Ramchandra Barik, Prof. Dr. Bichitchandra Behra, and Prof. Dr.Tanmaya Badapanda for their efforts and support.

I want to thank the Rural Development Ministry experts Mr. Sanjay Pandey and Mr. Rakesh Kumar for judging the solutions from the ministry's perspective. I'm also thankful to the industry jury panel Jayadev Das (Jay) , Balaram Mohanty , Dr. Om Prakash Jena, Satyabrata Satapathy ; the SIH alumni Aisurya Misra and Rajesh Swain for meticulously reviewing the solutions.

I'm grateful to Pratap Sanap ?for extending me the opportunity to be part of the #SIH2022 grand finale. I would also like to congratulate and thank the SIH organizing and executive committee Prof. Anil Sahastrabudhe , Dr. Anand Deshpande ,?Dr. Abhay Jere , and Mohit Gambhir Ph.D., LL.B. for their vision and leadership in giving our country such an innovation platform.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the content are my own

Shubham Kumar

GSoC 2023 @Ste||ar Group | SIH 2022 Winner | Student at Indian Institute of Information Technology Kalyani

2 年

Thank you Abhijit Khuperkar Sir for your insights about our project IRIS attendance monitoring system at the Hackathon. It was a wonderful opportunity and immense pleasure working with you as well as the entire team

Mithu Kumar Gupta

Software Engineer l UGC Net'24 Qualified l SIH'22 runner up l Python l C/C++ l React

2 年

I can't forget this amazing moment Sir Abhijit Khuperkar where within 36 hour We will build products . Thanks to Smart India Hackathon Narendra Modi Ministry of Education for organizing this Such Great event ????

回复
Mohit Gambhir Ph.D., LL.B.

Strategy & Innovation Leader | President, Verispire Corp, USA | Founder (former) Director @ Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell, Govt. of India | Entrepreneur | AI | Patents

2 年

It gives immense satisfaction Abhijit Khuperkar that my program is able to touch so many lives and make some true contribution in strengthening the innovation ecosystem of Bharat.. thank you everyone who are involved directly and indirectly in making this journey, such a successful one...

Aisurya Misra

Full Stack Developer at Symphony Talent

2 年

Thank you Abhijit Khuperkar Sir. It was a wonderful oppurtunity and immense pleasure working with you as well as the entire team. Looking forward to such future experiences.

Taksh Panchal

Software Engineer - Applied AI Engineering at Searce | Open Source Contributor

2 年

Your speech was very inspiring sir. Thanks you for giving us important remarks.

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