STORY CREDITS

Writer: Vasudha Chatterjee

Photo: Diptanka Sekhar De

The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) hosted the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2024 (Software Edition) on December 11-12, 2024. The Institute hosted 37 teams, comprising of approximately 250 students, who worked on 7 challenging problem statements provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, as well as the Education Department of the Government of Gujarat. After working tirelessly for 36 hours, 10 winning teams were identified by the jury, and awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each. It is worthwhile to note that while the number of problem statements was 7, the number of teams who emerged as winners resulted to 10. The cash prize was divided into half between teams that were declared as joint winners. 

Some of the problem statements included, “Learning App for Deaf and Mute and sign language – English/Gujarat converter”, “Utilisation of aerial/drone-based images for monitoring of progress of construction activities for building construction projects” and “Start-ups in Gujarat State” among others. Saarthi, One Boat Solution, Coding Gurus, Team Anurved, CodeZ, AANYA, Typewriters – II, INSIGHTS, Bhasha Setu and Leviosa were the 10 teams that emerged as the winners. Recounting his experience of the last two days, Prasad Ajay Mahankal, Team Leader of Team Anurved noted: “ We have incorporated innovative technologies like geo tagging and GIS like systems to create a web application which is a role based model focussing on creating task based system. This will enable efficient inter-departmental cooperation for government employees and avoid potential conflicts. We are tremendously grateful for this opportunity, and wish to give our prototype a professional look soon”. His thoughts were resonated by several other participants who expressed their delight upon visiting IITGN, and thanked the Ministry of Education, Government of India, for facilitating such initiatives. 

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