PIB News Update: The Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2020 kickstarted today with the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ gracing the inaugural ceremony in New Delhi today morning. Speaking on the occasion, Union HRD Minister said, SIH provides confidence to the students to stand up like a warrior and decide on the path they want to take. He stated, under PM e-Vidya, online classes using technology have been started. “We are trying use innovation and technology in the National Education Policy. We have initiated National Education Technology Forum”.
Education is not complete until we apply theoretical knowledge to find practical & affordable solutions to general & specific problems and the Smart India Hackathon is playing a vital role in inculcating a scientific mindset among students and academia as envisaged in the National Education Policy, 2020, stated MoS, HRD, Shri Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre.
Secretary, HRD Ministry Shri Amit Khare stated that in order to translate the good ideas coming from Smart India Hackathon, 2020, an institutionalized mechanism is being setup by HRD Ministry along with AICTE and the Innovation Cell of the HRD Ministry. It will be done in partnership with central departments and also at the state & district level. He said Smart India Hackathon has picked up problem statements which relate to the social sector, like women-empowerment, cybersecurity, problems of developing states, health system etc.
Calling the Hackathon a game changer movement in this country, Chairman, AICTE, Prof. Anil Kumar Sahasrabudhe noted that the solutions to a number of problems that have emerged over the last 3 editions of the SIH have been adopted by government departments, like ISRO, DRDO, Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
DG, Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR & D), Shri V S K Kaumudi; Chief Innovation Officer in HRD Ministry Dr. Abhay Jere; CMD of Persistent Systems Shri Anand Deshpande; and India Head, Amazon Web Services Shri Rahul Sharma also addressed the digital inauguration.
Smart India Hackathon in Mumbai
S .P. Mandali’s Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research (WeSchool) is the nodal centre in Mumbai. The event at Mumbai has been inaugurated by Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission and Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog Shri Ramanan Ramanathan. Group Director, WeSchool, Prof Dr. Uday Salunkhe and representatives of the sponsoring companies giving problem statements CDK Global, MathWorks and MixORG and participating students too joined the programme. Total 35 teams comprising 210 participants are competing on seven problem statements from three organizations.
Emphasizing on the importance of technology, Shri Ramanathan said, technology and digital transformation have ensured in the times of COVID-19 pandemic related lockdown that lives of people are not so much interrupted as it would have been in the past. The pandemic has opened up new challenges in the sphere of climate-change, self-reliance, supply chains and so on, he said, where technology and innovation can play an important role.
This is the fourth edition of nationwide initiative that provides students a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcates a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem solving. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SIH Software Edition is being conducted in fully online mode. Student participants, SIH coordinators and industry evaluators are coming together on a digital platform designed to facilitate the implementation of the event seamlessly, managed centrally by HRD Ministry’s Innovation Cell and the AICTE. This year 72 organisations consisting of Central Government Departments, State Governments & the private sector have submitted a total of 344 problem statements in the software edition of SIH.
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is slated to address the hackathon today evening.
Also read:
- Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai to facilitate 35 teams comprising 210 participants for the 5-day event
-
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to address the Grand Finale of the largest ever online hackathon in the world on 1st August 2020 through video-conference
***
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.