Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0 to drive a new wave of disruptive innovations. Innovators/startups, join the revolution!

This story is sponsored by Innovate for Digital India Challenge

There is no denying that the internet is truly one of the greatest disruptors of our age. In the last few years, its impact on our day-to-day life and situations, the way we work, shop, travel, communicate, and transact has been enormous. With this stupendous growth in the adoption of the internet, there has also been a rise in the number of businesses and entrepreneurs who are looking to bring about disruptive innovation. Programs such as the Digital India initiative by the government seek to empower every citizen with the benefits of technology by enabling and supporting such digital transformation.

In this light, and following the success of the inaugural Challenge last year, Intel and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) of the Government of India have come together again to host the Intel & DST Innovate for Digital India (IFDI) Challenge 2.0. This challenge will be anchored by T-Hub Foundation, one of India’s largest incubators, and supported by MyGov and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

This edition of the challenge is also in line with Intel’s vision to create a sustainable ecosystem of innovation in the country at the grassroots level by harnessing local talent and providing a platform for entrepreneurs, innovators, academicians, designers, engineers, or anyone passionate about creating viable technology solutions to address everyday problems faced by Indian citizens.

Debjani Ghosh, Managing Director, and Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Intel South Asia, said, “Our goal is to foster innovation at every level – from school to colleges, and from entrepreneurs to enterprises. With this challenge, we continue to create a community of makers who build solutions to enable the scalability of technology adoption in India, and increase the impact of technology on citizens’ lives. Through strong public-private collaboration, wherein MeITY, MyGov, T-Hub, and Intel India are working together to turn ideas to solutions, disruptive yet sustainable technology innovations are now a reality.’’

The IFDI Challenge 2.0 aims to foster local innovation and encourage the creation of intuitive, easy to use, and scalable solutions on IoT, Datacenter, and/or Cloud platforms. The solutions developed during the Challenge should be based on Intel architecture, and address problems faced by Indian citizens across one of the following fields: healthcare, financial inclusion, agriculture, sustainability, and Smart Cities.

If you are a startup or entrepreneur registered in India with a prototype or conceptual prototype to demonstrate proficiency, capable of developing solutions based on the challenge themes listed above, possess a business plan for achieving scale, or are willing to develop a prototype based on Intel architecture, then this is the right platform for you. What’s more, if shortlisted, you will be mentored by top government and industry experts, and receive technology support from Intel and T-Hub.

This year, the challenge will roll out in five phases, with the grand finale taking place in April 2017. Shortlisted teams will be eligible to receive a Rs 3,00,000 grant each, to create minimum-viable products (MVPs) based on Intel Architecture (iA) in an accelerator programme at the T-Hub incubator in Hyderabad. The winning team will walk away with Rs 20,00,000 to further develop their project.

According to Jay Krishnan, CEO of T-Hub Foundation, “Startup ecosystems the world over have had a catalyst that has sparked their growth. In Hyderabad, T-Hub is pushing this with platforms that showcase and scale innovation as the primary lynchpin. T-Hub’s partnership with DST and Intel to launch the challenge this year, and provide a platform for aspiring innovators to showcase their ideas for building a Digital India from the grassroots level, is a key cog and start for us.”

If you have a solution that you believe is truly transformative, register for the challenge today.