Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will interact with young innovators during the Grand Finale of the 7th Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2024 via video conferencing at around 4:30 PM on Wednesday.
This year, over 1,300 student teams will participate in the Grand Finale, taking place across 51 centres nationwide.
The event includes both Software and Hardware editions.
While the Software Edition will be a 36-hour nonstop event, the Hardware Edition will run from 11th to 15th December.
The SIH 2024 will be inaugurated virtually by Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.
SIH is a nationwide initiative aimed at providing students a platform to address real-life challenges faced by the public, fostering a culture of innovation and problem-solving.
The participants will work on problem statements provided by ministries, government departments, and industries, or submit their own ideas under the student innovation category.
This year, 54 ministries, departments, state governments, PSUs, and industries have presented more than 250 problem statements for the competition.
SIH 2024 has seen a remarkable 150% increase in institute-level internal hackathons over the previous year, making it the largest edition of the event to date.
Over 86,000 teams participated at the institute level, with around 49,000 advancing to the national level.
The 17 focus areas of SIH 2024 align with national priorities, including healthcare, smart technologies, sustainability, education, water, agriculture, and disaster management.
Notable problem statements include ISRO’s challenge on enhancing images of darker regions on the moon and the ministry of Jal Shakti’s call for a real-time ganga water quality monitoring system using AI, satellite data, and Internet of Things (IoT).
The SIH grand finale presents a unique platform for students, educators, and government officials to collaborate and share ideas.
The event has played a significant role in India’s innovation ecosystem, with its alumni network credited for establishing over 100 start-ups with strong social impact.