Over 1300 bright minds across India come together at Gov-TechThon 2020 to solve grassroot problems

Gov-TechThon 2020, a 36 hours, pan-India virtual hackathon organized by IEEE, National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Oracle, under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, witnessed a successful conclusion on 1st November, 2020. The virtual hackathon received registrations from over 1300 aspirants forming 390 teams. The hackathon webpage witnessed over 15,000 visitors in 2 weeks.

Shortlisted 447 enthusiasts from 100 teams participated in the Hackathon on the five problem statements provided by 3 central Government Ministries – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Road Transport and Highway and Ministry of Education.

A thorough assessment of proposals was done by a panel of 27 jurors from the industry, academia and Government.

The five challenges seeking innovative solutions from Gov-TechThon 2020 were 

1. Suggest alternate crops or crop rotation for farmers during different seasons using artificial intelligence technology, considering the terrain and local challenges to increase the productivity
2. Seed supply chain is a complex ecosystem involving various stakeholders. Address the issues of poor seed quality effectively by tracing the seeds using BlockChain technology
3. A mobile / web based application for scanning, resizing and uploading documents (as required) in a single flow
4. A tool for monitoring online exams from homes / institutions through a combination of remote-supervision software and web cam. System should ensure necessary authentication, control, fraud detection and compliance, using appropriate technology like AI / ML etc. 
5. A self-learning tool for automating Vehicle Fitness Test procedures transparently

First place was secured by FitForFuture team from Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Private Limited, for demonstrating an innovative solution prototype for automating vehicle fitness checks, second prize went to HackDemons of Indian Institute of Information Technology  Vadodara for providing secure solution for delivering unsupervised tests remotely and Orange team from PES University Bengaluru secured third prize for providing a unique solution for seed certification using BlockChain technology.

The valedictory function on November 1 2020 witnessed participation from senior officials representing Ministries of Agriculture, Education and Transport as well as senior leaders from NIC, IEEE Computer Society board member Prof. Ramalatha Marimuthu, Oracle including jury members and mentors. 

Dr. Neeta Verma, Director General, NIC, while addressing the Valedictory function of Gov-TechThon 2020, said that this virtual hackathon displayed a unique combination of social sector and emerging technologies. She also highlighted that the Hackathon has enabled the use of emerging technologies for social inclusion, empowerment of people & overall upliftment of the nation.

Melissa Russel, Executive Director of the Computer Society, said “We were so pleased to partner with NIC and Oracle for this event. The IEEE Computer Society has a strong membership base in India and opportunities like Gov-TechThon provide valuable ways for professionals to engage, network and utilize their skills to help solve challenging problems.”

Shailender Kumar, Regional Managing Director, Oracle India, said “It was a great collaboration, and a great platform to seed innovation ideas. I was very fascinated with the prototype solutions that were submitted and it gives me an immense sense of pride to see our youth contributing to a better tomorrow. I wish the winners all the best. Oracle stays committed to innovation and to new ideas.”