Open Forum: India’s Idea Leadership Talk Series (SIH 2017)
By Prof. Deepak B. Phatak
6th January 2017
Padma Shree Prof. Deepak B. Phatak, Dept. of Computer Science – IIT Bombay, hosted the India’s Idea Leadership Talk Series on Jan 6, 2017 at 11.00 AM where he spoke about ‘Need of Hackathon culture in India.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India in collaboration with MyGov, NASSCOM, UGC, i4c and Persistent Systems is organizing an ambitious ‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’ involving all technology institutions (6500+) across India reaching out to 3- 5 million plus students. This initiative is led by Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE. SIH - 2017 aims to create a model where energy and creativity of youngsters would be used to develop innovative digital solutions which will help build the nation. Shri Prakash Javadekar, Hon’ble Minister for HRD, Govt. of India launched it on MyGov platform on 9th Nov 2016.
The event was broadcast live at Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon. It was attended by the participants as well as other students.
Prof. Phatak said that the current education system does not permit us to understand the entire breadth of a larger problem. It also does not inculcate in students the desire to take risk and go for a start-up and build wealth for himself and the society. Hackathon, he said, provides these opportunities of Planning, Allocation and Problem Solving. It will also help participants learn Team Building and Endurance.
Prof. Phatak reminded the participants that before the last day of submission of ideas, i.e., January 20th, 2017, IIT Bombay has decided to run a special training program on hackathons, at its remote centers, on 16 January 2017. He advised the participants to register and make use of this opportunity.
The event ended with the Q&A session.