A hackathon (also known as a hack day, datathon, hack fest, or codefest; a portmanteau of the hacking marathon) is a design sprint-style event in which computer programmers and other software developers, such as interface designers, graphic designers, product managers, product managers, domain experts, and others, work intensively on software projects.
Meaning of Smart India Hackathon:
The Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide program that aims to give students a platform to solve some of the most important issues we encounter in our everyday lives, instilling a culture of product innovation and a problem-solving mindset. SIH2017, SIH2018, SIH2019, and SIH2020 were tremendously effective in encouraging young minds, particularly engineering students from around India, to think beyond the box and innovate.
The (SIH) Hackathon India or Smart India Hackathon is a wide platform where students from throughout India work together to develop solutions to problems posed by various Indian departments. A variety of industries present various problem statements. The importance of such problem statements to the industry or department is usually high. They also have a significant social impact.
It is the world's largest HackathonHackathon, with over 10 lakh students from 7218 Indian institutes participating. This HackathonHackathon has two editions: software and hardware; we will explore the software edition here.
The Hackathon'sHackathon's major goal in India is to inspire students, raise the value of technology, and create a digital India.
Here are a few reasons why you should participate in the Smart India Hackathon 2020:
Remember that once the Smart India Hackathon is done, you can always brag about your participation in your network. There are numerous other reasons to participate in the Smart India Hackathon. We think it's a terrific learning atmosphere and an enjoyable activity if you ask us.
Your company will receive a cost-effective and inventive solution to its difficulties. Consider it an opportunity to be a part of nation-building while promoting your business.
Problem statements might range from socially significant projects to industry-specific technological requirements. These statements refer to real-world issues that individuals face daily and for which a digital answer is required.
As a student and participant, you have complete freedom to submit any solution that best fits the problem statement. The topics and problem statements for the Smart India Hackathon 2019 and Smart India Hackathon 20 can be found on their official website.
Where's it going to be held?
In India, a hackathon is a national event that attracts thousands of students from all around the country. Finding a single location in India where a hackathon may be held with ease is slim. As a result, nodal centres exist. These centers can accommodate a total of 30 teams. Participants may be required to travel from afar to attend the event.
The organizers of the Smart India Hackathon take care of lodging and other necessities. And if you're a woman concerned about your safety, don't be; it's perfectly safe for you! They provide very clean and comfortable lodging for three nights.
It comprises three primary components from a top-down perspective:
This year, organizers are planning on coming back to the original routine of conducting and hosting the Hackathon offline, as the COVID cases in the country have seen a sharp downfall.
The first step is to have a college faculty member register as a SPOC on the SIH portal.
Only their college SPOC can register students selected in the Internal Hackathon on the SIH portal. Students cannot register on their own.
Once the Problem Statements have been posted on the website, teams can begin working on them and come up with their own solutions to the problem statement they have chosen. For the teams who submitted their ideas, the college SPOC held an internal hackathon.
The Student Innovation Category is a popular open category in which teams must address a current issue in India while proposing an out-of-the-box product or digital development solution that falls under the technology bucket mentioned. The problem statement should not be the same as the ones on the portal. Each college is allowed to register only one team from each of the categories like hardware or software.
To get the best teams from each college were chosen for the 2020 edition, an internal hackathon was held on the college campus in the first week of 2020 February.
A total of five best teams were chosen from the internal Hackathon conducted by the SPOC and another Jury member.
The SIH 2020 Hackathon – The Software Edition featured the top five teams from each college.
For the selected teams, four problem statements from the portal and one from the Student Innovation category can be chosen.
This internal Hackathon needs to be documented, and information about the judges, as well as a few photos and videos from the event, had to be submitted along with the ideas.
The SPOC then registers the teams from the Internal Hackathon on the SIH portal, including the following information:
Experts assess proposed solutions based on factors such as the novelty of the concept, the scale of impact, feasibility, practicability, complexity, clarity, detailed document, sustainability, user experience, and future work progression potential.
The teams whose names appeared on this list were automatically qualified for the Grand Finale.
But as mentioned earlier, the 2020 situation was quite different. Here is what happened:
However, due to the pandemic of 2020, all teams were asked to participate from their home countries. The nodal centers were tasked with running the event entirely online, bringing all stakeholders together on a single platform (for example, Slack), and holding the required meetings via web conferencing.
The teams work on turning their ideas into a working prototype during the 36-hour Hackathon. In addition, three mentoring and evaluation sessions are scheduled over three days.
During the mentoring session, team members interact with judges and representatives from organizations, receiving valuable feedback on how their work progresses and how it can be improved.
The teams present their application and answer the jury's questions during the evening evaluation session.
Each team incorporates a scheduled time slot of about 10-20 minutes for each session.
There is a winning team for each problem statement posted on the portal.
Rs. 100000 /- : 1st prize:
Rs. 75000 /- : 2nd prize:
Rs. 50000/-. : 3rd prize
Intellectual property, the IP for the winning idea will be splitted equally between the winning team as well as the industry that provided the problem statement, or it will be decided by mutual agreement.
Their development will help selected ideas gain traction in industries and government institutions.
To help the government achieve its goal of creating higher number of job creators than job seekers, the majority of the winning ideas are being turned into startups.
More international hackathons are planned by the government. Teams that win the SIH Grand Finale will be given first priority for entry.
A hackathon is an event that is well-known. It also has a cultural and social impact on the field of engineering.
Because the event is so large and significant, good universities persuade and assist their students to participate, as they are always looking to improve their students' intellect and teamwork skills.
Some of these colleges include:
Now that you know everything about the Smart India Hackathon, make sure to participate.