The 7th edition of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) will begin on December 11th across 51 centres nationwide. Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan will virtually inaugurate the event. This nationwide initiative provides students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems faced in their daily lives, thus inculcating a culture of product innovation and a problem-solving mindset. Like past editions, the student teams will work on either the problem statements given by the Ministries, Departments, and Industries or submit their ideas in the Student Innovation Category under any of the 17 themes. The challenges identified and addressed cover 17 major themes linked to sectors of national importance and national priorities. These include Healthcare, Supply Chain and Logistics, Smart Technologies, Heritage and Culture, Sustainability, Education, and Skill Development, among others

This year, more than 250 problem statements have been submitted by 54 Ministries, Departments, State Governments, PSUs, and Industries, marking a 240 per cent increase in internal hackathons at the institute level.