Rajasthan IT Day 2018: The Four-Day Event Calls In Innovators And Startups

Continuing with its commitment to support and strengthen the technological ecosystem of the state, the Department of Information Technology and Communications under the Government of Rajasthan is organising the third edition of the Rajasthan IT Day from March 18-21 at Jaipur.

This year’s theme for the IT Day celebration revolves around providing a platform to e-mitras, education providers, students as well as startups. The four-day event aims to provide the participants an opportunity to portray their out-of-the-box products and services and seek support from the government.

There will be intensive panel discussions by reputed speakers across the nation, exhibitions on the latest innovations in the field of IT and e-Governance, along with workshops for tech wizards and emerging startups.

“Our vision is to digitally empower every citizen of the state to enhance their quality of life and become innovation and knowledge hub of the country.” Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan

The event will be graced by the presence of dignitaries of the Government of India and the Government of Rajasthan; officers of the Government of Rajasthan, specifically the Department of Industries, BIP, the Finance Department, the Department of Information Technology and Communication; IT industrialists and members of Rajasthan Venture Capital fund.

The four-day event will witness participation of dignitaries and influencers like Sh. Mohandas Pai (Manipal Global), Sh Rajendra K Pawar (NIIT), Suneel Shetty and many more.

Rajasthan IT Day 2018: An Overview

The four-day event will majorly host five programmes for the different community of individuals. This includes TechRush, Hackathon 4.0, Eduhack, Green-a-thon and eMitra/ITGK Connect.

Tech Rush

On March 18, 2018, the tech startups of the state can take part in the Tech Rush – a 5 km marathon that is being organised to commemorate the technology acceleration in the state. The marathon will take forward the agenda of making Rajasthan the digital supremo of the nation. People across the country will take part in this ‘run for technology’ marathon and will take home experience, inspiration and fine networking.

Hackathon 4.0

Between March 19 and 21, the Rajasthan government will be conducting Hackathon 4.0, a 36-hour non-stop coding marathon that will provide a platform for coders, developers and designers to use their solutions on numerous themes. The winners will take home prizes worth $49,942.89 (INR 32.5 Lakh), along with an opportunity to work with Government of Rajasthan.

e-Mitra Connect

From March 20-21, as part of Rajasthan IT Day 2018, the Government of Rajasthan is bringing “e-Mitra Connect” on the platform. This 24 hour-long activity will provide a platform where e-Mitra owners can pitch their innovative ideas about how to enhance and simplify the usage of e-Mitra services using electronic media.

The participants can prepare and develop a module, guide, video tutorials about how these services can be made available to the residents with ease. The categories for submitting and showcasing the ideas will be e-Service Delivery, IEC using Electronic Media and Banking Facility.

“Rajasthan has a service delivery network with over 45,000 e-Mitra kiosks. These service delivery points are offering more than 350 services across the state and are giving an entrepreneurial knack to the rural and urban youth by providing employment opportunities,” stated a Rajasthan government official.

EduHack

The other major attraction of the event will be EduHack, which is a 24-hour hackathon, to be hosted on March 20-21. It aims to give a unique platform to teachers, professors lecturers and educationists of Rajasthan, wherein they can create path-breaking solutions to improve the state’s education system.

This hackathon will provide a collaborative and competitive environment to the participants to implement their out-of-the-box ideas and develop extraordinary solutions. The solution can be in the form of new learning software, new teaching method, smart algorithm or anything that will help the state’s education system grow better and smarter.

‘Green-a-Thon’

‘Green-a-Thon’ or the Green Hackathon is one-of-its-kind event aimed at encouraging young problem solvers and innovative think tanks to create and implement new ideas for a more sustainable future.

It will be an all-night-long marathon in which the participants will develop, programme and build a prototype for something that will help in making the world a greener place.

The hackathon will include a series of coding events with a sustainability purpose where students will showcase their solutions to real civic and environmental issues.

Job Fair

The event will also have a Job Fair on March 19 and 20 which will bring together recruiters, tech managers and candidates who are looking for that right company and opportunities. The platform will not only accelerate the hiring process but will also provide participants with insights on what companies are looking for.

Sessions And Workshops

As part of the Rajasthan IT Day, from March  19 to 21, eminent speakers will come together to discuss ideas, display the latest innovations in the field of IT as well as conduct workshops for emerging startups and learners. Additionally, it will include the unveiling of the latest citizen-centric projects by the Government of Rajasthan.

Showcases

Along with all of the above, the IT Day will give emerging Rajasthan-based startups the opportunity to showcase their products and services at the ‘Startup Expo’.

So, What’s In Store For The Participants In Rajasthan IT Day 2018?

• Rajasthan IT Day 2018 will provide you a unique platform to witness cutting-edge innovations, explore technological breakthroughs and getting inspired from global leaders.
• The event will offer you a one of its kind opportunity to win Projects worth rupees 32.5 lacs through the biggest coding competition of the year– Hackathon 4.0.
• The fun and gaming activities during the entire event will give you a chance to grab attractive prizes like iPad, Tablet, Cell Phones, and a lot more.
• The sessions planned during the event will give you an opportunity to directly interact with eminent speakers and business leaders to take home a lifetime experience.

The interested participants can register here.

Other Similar Initiatives By The Rajasthan Government

Information technology has played a crucial role in the evolution of Rajasthan as a startup hub. From e-governance to utilising APIs in setting up the working mechanism of different departments, the state officials have boasted time to time about the impact the adoption of IT has created on the state’s development.

Rajasthan IT day was first hosted in 2016 with an aim to recognise the power of small technology-driven startups in wealth creation and employment generation. It was a day’s event which acted as a platform for IT startups to display their expertise and efficiency and seek the valuable support of the Rajasthan government and venture capital organisations.

The 2017 edition was based on the theme, “Skills for employability”, wherein the state government also hosted a 24-hour hackathon. The three winners of the hackathon were Protonly, Yeppar and Ankoosh. They won Projects worth of $23,051.6 (INR 15 lakhs), $15,367.7 (INR 10 Lakhs), $11,525.4 (INR 7.5 Lakhs) respectively; with the Department of Information Technology & Communication, GoR.

In the past few years, the Rajasthan government has also organised a number of initiatives, geared towards boosting the growth of innovative startups from Tier II and Tier III cities across the state.

“The theme of Rajasthan #Digifest – ‘Improving Today Inventing Tomorrow’ is symbolic of how in a technology driven world, change leads to growth. The theme resonates with the fact that we must continuously grow and advance to be relevant in the world of tomorrow.” Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan

Most prominent here is Digifest, a two-day mega event organised by Rajasthan state government’s Department of IT&C. So far, two editions of Rajasthan Digifest have been conducted in Kota and Udaipur respectively.

The event is geared towards providing a platform to various individuals from the field of IT and e-governance to showcase their skills and innovation. The ‘24-hour mega-hackathon for startups’ and the ‘Investor Connect’ form the highlights of the event.

Most recently, in the Udaipur Digifest, the main tech themes on which solutions were built included AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, bioinformatics, and IoT. The participants also got a chance to build tech solutions for the Rajasthan government’s initiatives such as Bhamashah and e-Mitra as well as applications to promote state tourism.

Editor’s Note

As it’s said, “band muthi laakh ki, khul gayi to khak ki”, the Rajasthan government’s efforts to pull together the state’s startup ecosystem stakeholders, and bridge the gap between investors, startups as well as policymakers is an example of the same.

Nothing can beat an ecosystem which provides its entrepreneurs a robust infrastructure as well as a multitude of opportunities to grow to a global scale from their own hometown. For long, the state has suffered from brain drain with entrepreneurs shifting their base to Tier I cities in search for better operating infrastructure.

However, with the efforts laid by the Rajasthan government in organising events such as Digifest, IT Day and more, new generation startups are getting a ready platform to showcase their ideas and cash in funding and mentorship opportunities from eminent industry leaders of the Indian startup ecosystem.

The results are already visible. As per Inc42 DataLabs, 30 Rajasthan startups secured $148 Mn between 2014-2017. Further, the total number of startups in the state has now reached 750, a 83% rise from 410 (approx) startups estimated in 2014.

Going ahead, whether the sincere efforts of the Rajasthan government will help the state to become a leading startup hub to watch out for.

To know more and for participating register here.