NE SCIENCE & TECH BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, MAR 5
Creative solutions and functional ideas vied for the winning slot at the 42-hour “Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon: Changing the way we move,” organised by the Swedish Institute, the Embassy of Sweden, and the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai. The Hack was aimed to design, test, and execute ideas for the future – with a particular focus on mobility. The winning teams will get an opportunity to collaborate with major Swedish and Indian companies/ institutes to further develop their ideas and implement the solutions, a release said.
Over 500 participants – students, entrepreneurs, innovation enthusiasts, developers, designers, creative professionals, and mobility experts – from across Sweden and India worked closely with more than 76 mentors to developed solutions to the future challenges of sustainable mobility. The six predetermined challenges were Lethal accidents in traffic, Safe transport, Sustainable transport, Emissions from the traffic sector, Infrastructure for connected vehicle, and Sustainable logistics.
A 48-member jury, comprising experts under the specified challenge areas, selected winners who came together digitally from different geographies – from Gothenburg, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, and Växjö, to name a few!
Felicitating the winners and partners, Anna Lekvall, Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai, said, “Congratulations to the winners of the Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon and heartfelt thanks to the participants, partners, jury, mentors, Swedish Institute, and Team Sweden for your seamless, collaborative efforts. Delighted that the Hackathon proved to be a great platform for connecting like-minded people from both countries to identify and tackle global transport issues. Really inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment towards co-creating safe, sustainable mobility solutions. Looking forward to sustained engagement and game-changing innovations.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and the Minister of MSME, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to send the message on the occasion of the event ‘Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon – changing the way we move’ organized by the Swedish Institute. The mobility hackathon is an innovative initiative which reflects how Sweden and India can continue to work together and collaborate not just at a government level but with a broad range of stakeholders.”
The Swedish Institute was in the lead on the hackathon, with support from 55 Swedish and Indian partners including startups, incubators, colleges, research institutes, road safety organizations and companies in sectors of sustainability, automotives and transport. Some of the Indian Institutes, Colleges and Incubators that partnered and participated in the Hackathon include IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Bombay (SINE), IIT Gandhinagar, College of Engineering – Pune, Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Pune.
Anand Pandey, Deputy Manager Commercialization, who manages the Incubation activities at IIT Gandhinagar Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, Gujarat, said: “The Sweden–India Mobility Hack has brought together several important stakeholders from Industry and academia to support innovative ideas in the area of sustainable mobility. As a partner of the programme we look forward to helping promising ideas to take them to the next level through our Incubation and innovation promotion programs.”
Some of the Indian company partners included L&T Infotech, Tata Motors, GMR Group, Indian Road Safety Campaign, Global Shapers Community and Cognify Labs.
Commenting on the association, Jeevan Prakash, Vice President and Regional Head of Nordics and Benelux at L&T Infotech said, “Hackathons help foster technological innovation, nurture new ideas and budding talent. L&T Infotech(LTTS) is proud to be a part of this prestigious 42-hour digital hackathon – a breeding ground for disruptive technology. L&T Infotechwas represented by its robust automotive team, experienced in providing the complete gamut of engineering services and solutions for its global customers. The thread of innovation has linked L&T Infotechwith Sweden for more than a decade, helping our clients in cutting edge technology development and partnering with them in their digital transformation journey. Sweden is one of the world’s leading startup hotspots and is also home to several much-loved brands. By expanding our footprint in Gothenburg and Stockholm, we cherish our warm relationship with Sweden and aim to serve a wide range of industries, that contributes further to the local ecosystem.”
Sharing her experience as a Jury member, Elsa Marie D’silva, Founder of Red Dot Foundation, Mumbai said, “The Sweden India Mobility Hack is a great platform for young people to experiment and ideate on innovative solutions, seek feedback for their ideas, and prototype into actual solutions. As a jury member, I have enjoyed reading through the mobility section. I cannot wait to see how these solutions develop. I wish all the teams the very best.”
Kushal Chinchanikar from the winning Team ‘The Right Truck’ and a student of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Navi Mumbai, shared his experience about the hack, “I had a great time in the Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon. The event was very well organized and we received timely support from the event organizers and mentors at all stages. We would like to further develop on our idea and contribute to society in some way.”
The winners are
- The Challenge ‘Safety by Objects’ in the category ‘Lethal Road Accidents’ by ‘AltairEngineering Inc.’ was won by Team ‘Pedestrian Safety’fortheir solution ‘Pedestrian Road Cross assist System’
- The Challenge ‘The key to sustainable future’ in the category ‘Sustainable Future’ by ‘Volvo Group’was won by the ‘Team Energy’ for offering Super-Fast Modular Charger and Intelligent Battery Management System for Electric vehicles –
- The Challenge ‘VIP Truck drivers’ in the category ‘Safe Transport’ by ‘IKEA’was won by the team ‘The Innovators’ for their solution ‘The Accident Predictor’ by collecting historic accident data from the authorities and alerting the drivers about accident-prone roads
- The Challenge ‘It’s in the air’ in the category ‘Emissions in Traffic’ by ‘Google Earth’ was won by the Team ‘Planet Saviours’ for their solution of a ‘Smart CO2 calculator for smart vehicles’
- The Challenge ‘Fast & Greenious’ in the category ‘Sustainable Logistics’ by Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SCEI) was won by the team ‘The Right Truck’for their solution of ‘Finding the best-suited truck for a particular transport journey’
- The Challenge ‘It’s all connected’ in the category ‘Infrastructure for connected devices’ by Ericsson was won by the team ‘The Insight & Co.’ for their solution ‘DATATOR’that addresses the importance of data integrity, and putting the driver in control of it –
- A special bonus ‘Hackathon Spirit Award’ was conferred to a team of 3 nationalities ‘BDU @LTU’for exhibiting great spirit and engagement through the hackathon and sharing tools, photos, notes, videos, and even dance with other hackers
