The Ministry of Education will begin the 7th edition of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) on December 11, 2024 at 51 centres across the country. SIH is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the difficult problems they face in their daily lives. It helps in inculcating a culture of product innovation and a problem-solving mind set among students.
Similar to previous editions, the student teams will work on either the problem statements given by the ministries/departments/industries or submit their idea in the Student Innovation Category against any of the 17 themes.
For SIH 2024, more than 250 problem statements have been submitted by 54 ministries, departments, State Governments, PSUs, and industries.
Over 86,000 teams have participated in SIH 2024 at the institute level and around 49,000 student teams (each consisting of 6 students and 2 mentors) have been recommended by these institutes for the national level round. The challenges identified and addressed cover 17 major areas/themes linked to sectors of national importance and national priorities. These are Healthcare, Supply chain & Logistics, Smart Technologies, Heritage & Culture, Sustainability, Education & Skill Development, Water, Agriculture & Food, Emerging Technologies, and Disaster Management.
An important element ensuring the success of SIH is the SIH Alumni Network. Through its well-designed portal (https://alumni.mic.gov.in/), the alumni network has seamlessly documented success stories, showcasing transformative outcomes. Till date, SIH Alumni have established over 100 Startups, many of which have strong social dimensions.
(With inputs from Ministry of Education)
