In an Indian government news update, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) announced that the much awaited‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’Grand Finale scheduled to be held on April 1&2, 2017, simultaneously at 26 different nodal centers across India. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is a ‘Premier Partner’ in this unique initiative. Launched on Nov 9, 2016 in New Delhi, ‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’will harnesses creativity & expertise of students, builds a funnel for ‘Startup India, Standup India’ campaigns, formulating solutions for improving governance and quality of life, and provides an opportunity to citizens to provide innovative solutions to India’s daunting problems. ‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’ is conceived by All India Council for Higher Education (AICTE), under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD) and in Collaboration with i4C, Persistent Systems, NASSCOM and RambhauMhalgi Pabodin(RMP).
On behalf of Ministry of Civil Aviation, 43 problem statements were thrown to students for which more than 350 ideas from teams of young IT students were received. After preliminary evaluation, 61 teams were shortlisted who would participate for 36 Hours long Grand Finale to be held at CATC, Allahabad. ‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’ is expected to become the ‘World’s biggest open innovation model’ that other countries can replicate. At the larger scale, the overall event accommodates more than 1200 teams participating in the Grand Finale with more than 10,000 students making their presence.Out of the 7531 idea submissions received for the 598 problems posted by 29 govt. departments, 1266 ideas have been shortlisted for the ‘Grand Finale’ on April 1& 2, 2017, during which these teams will work nonstop for 36 hours to build products based on their ideas across 26 locations in India.
‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’ would be the first massive scale Hackathon initiative in India, unparalleled in the nation’s history. Winners stand to get cash prizes and a chance to be part of the NASSCOM’s ‘10,000 Startups’ program.