NSO India, IIT Gandhinagar launch hackathon on real-world data challenges

Today, a three-day Hackathon organized jointly by the NSO, India and IIT Gandhinagar has been kicked off at the IIT Gandhinagar campus.The Hackathon has received a huge response and brings together young creative minds from all across the country to work on real-world practical problems faced by practitioners. There were a total of 700 teams with five members from different educational institutions that applied for three uses cases about application of AI/ML in the field of Official Statistics.  

From the applications received there were 19 teams from top educational institutions including Indian Institute of Information Technology , Indian Institute of Technology ,Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, VIT Vellore, University of Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, National Institute of Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Plaksha University, NMIMS Mumbai and PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research etc. which were shortlisted to participate in 36 hour Hackathon which has started today.

At the opening session, ADG MoSPI spoke about some of the modernisation projects undertaken by NSO, India that included the data innovation lab, eSankhyiki portal etc., and emphasised the importance of data driven solutions in determining policy and governance. He encouraged come up with some creativity and analytical rigour in addressing the problems raised, as a positive contribution to nation building for Vikshit Bharat. He went on to profoundly thank Dr. Rajat Moona and IIT Gandhinagar for the opportunity to work with MoSPI for the Hackathon.

Dr. Rajat Moona, Director, IIT Gandhinagar complimented MoSPI for its efforts to use AI and data innovation to improve official statistics, and for the problem statements put forward by the Ministry for this Hackathon which he indicated were very pertinent to real-life Statistical problems. He wished the teams all the best and was confident that the outcome would be applicable to real-life problems. He also expressed confidence that all participating students would be winners , either by winning an award and/or by gaining knowledge.