Winning, innovative transport solutions were felicitated at the live-streamed award ceremony of the ‘Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon’ on March 3, 2021 organized by the Swedish Institute and supported by the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai and the Swedish Embassy in New Delhi. The closing ceremony concluded the 42-hour Hackathon (February 26-28, 2021) that brought together Swedish and Indian minds to co-create and execute futuristic solutions for global mobility challenges. The winning teams will get an opportunity to collaborate with major Swedish and Indian companies/ institutes to further develop their ideas and implement the solutions for safe and sustainable transportation.
Felicitating the winners and partners, Anna Lekvall, Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai (representing Swedish Government in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa) said, “Congratulations to the winners of the Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon and heartfelt thanks to the participants, partners, jury, mentors, Swedish Institute and Team Sweden for your seamless, collaborative efforts. Delighted that the Hackathon proved to be a great platform for connecting like-minded people from both countries to identify and tackle global transport issues. Really inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment towards co-creating safe, sustainable mobility solutions. Looking forward to sustained engagement and game-changing innovations.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Mr Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport and Highways and the Minister of MSME, Govt. of India, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to send the message on the occasion of the event ‘Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon – changing the way we move’ organized by the Swedish institute. The mobility hackathon is an innovative initiative which reflects how Sweden and India can continue to work together and collaborate not just at a government level but with a broad range of stakeholders.”
The Swedish Institute was in the lead on the hackathon, with support from 55 Swedish and Indian partners including startups, incubators, colleges, research institutes, road safety organizations and companies in sectors of sustainability, automotives and transport. Some of the Indian company partners included L&T Technology Services, Tata Motors, GMR Group, Indian Road Safety Campaign, Global Shapers Community and Cognify Labs.
Commenting on the association, Rahul Andrews, Founder of Cognify Labs, Pune: “Partnering the Sweden-India Mobility Hack allowed us to contribute to an open innovation process across an ecosystem of global entrepreneurs, students and partner organisations. We look forward to fostering this partnership and enabling such dynamic ecosystems to co-design and co-create solutions for greater social impact.”
Some of the Indian Institutes, Colleges and Incubators that partnered and participated in the Hackathon include IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Bombay (SINE), IIT Gandhinagar, College of Engineering – Pune, Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Pune.
Speaking on the partnership, Dr. Ketan Kotecha, CEO – Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SCEI), Pune: “We, at Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SCEI), feel honoured to have been one of the partner organisations for such an impactful initiative by the Swedish Institute. Post hackathon, SCEI will be happy to extend pre-incubation as well as incubation offer to the top-performing teams from the hackathon. We would also be connecting some teams with relevant faculty experts from our technology institute (SIT) for further mentoring support.”
About 500 participants – students, entrepreneurs, innovation enthusiasts, developers, designers, engineers, creative professionals and mobility experts – came together digitally from different geographies across Sweden and India. The participants were divided into 37 teams that worked on. The participants had access to a unique network of major Swedish/Indian companies/institutes and worked to solve questions based on open data sources. The teams received guidance from 76 mentors from both countries – professors, leaders, engineering, transport and creative experts – to further develop their solutions. A 48-member jury, comprising of experts for specified challenge areas, selected winners with the most promising solutions for the future.
Sharing her experience as a Jury member, ElsaMarie Dsilva, Founder of Red Dot Foundation, Mumbai said, “The Sweden India Mobility Hack is a great platform for young people to experiment and ideate on innovative solutions, seek feedback for their ideas and prototype into actual solutions. As a jury member, I have enjoyed reading through the mobility section. I cannot wait to see how these solutions develop. I wish all the teams the very best.”
Kushal Chinchanikar from the winning Team ‘The Right Truck’ and a student of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Navi Mumbai, shared his experience about the hack, “I had a great time in the Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon. The event was very well organized and we received timely support from the event organizers and mentors at all stages. We would like to further develop on our idea and contribute to society in some way.”
Below is the list of the 7 winning teams selected by the jury of which 6 were predefined, real challenges led by specific partner Swedish/Indian company / Institutes:
· The Challenge ‘Safety by Objects’ in the category ‘Lethal Road Accidents’ by ‘Altair Engineering Inc.’ was won by Team ‘Pedestrian Safety’ for their solution ‘Pedestrian Road Cross assist System’ – https://eventornado.com/submission/pedestrian-road-cross-assist-system
· The Challenge ‘The key to sustainable future’ in the category ‘Sustainable Future’ by ‘Volvo Group’ was won by the ‘Team Energy’ for offering Super-Fast Modular Charger and Intelligent Battery Management System for Electric vehicles – https://eventornado.com/submission/super-fast-modular-charger-and-intelligent-battery-management-system-for-electric-vehicle
· The Challenge ‘VIP Truck drivers’ in the category ‘Safe Transport’ by ‘IKEA’ was won by the team ‘The Innovators’ for their solution ‘The Accident Predictor’ by collecting historic accident data from the authorities and alerting the drivers about accident prone roads – https://eventornado.com/submission/accident-predictor
· The Challenge ‘It’s in the air’ in the category ‘Emissions in Traffic’ by ‘Google Earth’ was won by the Team ‘Planet Saviours’ for their solution of a ‘Smart CO2 calculator for smart vehicles’ – https://eventornado.com/submission/smart-co2-caluculator-for-smart-vehicles
· The Challenge ‘Fast & Greenious’ in the category ‘Sustainable Logistics’ by Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SCEI) was won by the team ‘The Right Truck’ for their solution of ‘Finding the best suited truck for a particular transport journey’ – https://eventornado.com/submission/finding-the-best-suited-truck-for-a-particular-transport-journey
· The Challenge ‘It’s all connected’ in the category ‘Infrastructure for connected devices’ by Ericsson was won by the team ‘The Insight & Co.’ for their solution ‘DATATOR’ that addresses the importance of data integrity, and putting the driver in control of it – https://eventornado.com/submission/datator
· A special bonus ‘Hackathon Spirit Award’ was conferred to a team of 3 nationalities ‘BDU @LTU’ for exhibiting great spirit and engagement through the hackathon and sharing tools, photos, notes, videos and even a dance with other hackers – https://eventornado.com/submission/vip-pit-stops
All submitted solutions are available on the Eventornado site till March 15, 2021 – https://eventornado.com/event/mobilityhack#ideas.
Here’s also the Youtube link to the Awards and Closing Ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ohIMvABgw&feature=youtu.be
