New Delhi, Dec 6: The 7th edition of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) will concurrently begin on December 11, 2024, at 51 centres nationwide. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will virtually inaugurate the event, officials said on Friday.

In a release, the Ministry of Education said that SIH is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a problem-solving mind set.

Like past 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, it said.

For SIH 2024, more than 250 problem statements have been submitted by 54 Ministries, Departments, State Governments, PSUs, and Industries. This year, an impressive 240% increase has been recorded in internal hackathons at the institute level, growing from over 900 in SIH 2023 to over 2247 in SIH 2024, making this the largest edition so far. More than 86000 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.

SIH grand finale also serves as a ground for open interaction between officials from different Ministries/government departments and students, teachers from educational institutes which is very unique and also very encouraging for the students and teachers.

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.

SIH has profoundly influenced India's innovation landscape, empowering students and professionals to address real-world challenges. A pivotal element ensuring this success is the SIH Alumni Network, which, through its well-designed portal (https://alumni.mic.gov.in/), has seamlessly documented success stories, showcasing transformative outcomes.

Till date, SIH Alumni have established over 100 Startups, many of which have strong social dimensions, the Ministry said.

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