
The engineering students will get a chance to develop market-ready technology solutions
The solutions will focus on the sector such as healthcare, agriculture, education etc
A formal call to join the programme will be announced soon
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Saturday, announced a partnership with Google for rolling out of “Build for Digital India” —a programme to give engineering students a platform to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions for social problems.
Build for Digital India programme will invite ideas from students to focus on areas of healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, women’s safety, smart mobility and transportation, environment, accessibility and disability, and digital literacy.
Moreover, as part of the programme, engineering students across the country will be invited to apply and join in a learning journey that will help them transform their bright ideas into real-world solutions.
‘AI Can Help Address Some Of The Toughest Social Challenges’
These applicants will take part in online and offline learning opportunities on key technologies such as machine learning, cloud, and android. These courses will be offered through Google’s Developer Student Club network and other Google Developer networks.
“Advanced new technologies like machine learning and AI can help address at scale some of the toughest social challenges that India faces today,” said Karan Bhatia, vice president, government affairs and public policy, Google.
The global search giant will also offer mentorship sessions in product design, strategy and technology to the most promising products and prototypes. A formal call to join the programme will be announced soon, Google said.
“This initiative will not only motivate the college students across India to innovate but will also produce some good technology solutions for some major social challenges of India,” IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Google is one of the myriad tech giants that’s closely watching the tech entrepreneurs in India and in recent years, it claims to have witnessed an exponential growth in entrepreneurial and startup activity that goes beyond the big metros.
Google has been active in India through various programmes such as the Launchpad Accelerator and the Launchpad events, and it has developed a very local high touch engagement programme for a growing number of Indian startups that are building solutions to solve for critical challenges of India.