New Delhi, Oct 26: To celebrate the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” and to promote the culture of innovation among Indian Youth, UIDAI is conducting ‘Aadhaar Hackathon 2021’ from October 28 to 31.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that “Innovation is not merely a word or an event. It’s an ongoing process. You can innovate only when you understand a problem and try to find out its solution. We must go to the root of the problem and find out of the box solutions. In the era where knowledge is power, innovation is the driver of growth.”

On these guiding lines, UIDAI has initiated ‘Aadhaar Hackathon-2021’ to enhance the experience of the residents and the way they interface with enrolment and authentication software platforms through technological innovations. The hackathon consists of multiple problem statements categorized under two broad themes i.e. Enrolment and Authentication.

So far, UIDAI has received more than 2700+ registrations from the Engineering Students in last few days, which in itself explains the inclination of the young minds in solving real-life challenges being faced by the Residents. Participation includes Students from all categories of Engineering Institutes i.e. IITs, NITs and NIRF and many top ranked colleges from all corners of the country – from eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh to J&K in North.

In order to assist these young budding minds, online interactive sessions on a daily basis are also being conducted by UIDAI Team to explain the problem statements with appropriate use cases. These sessions essentially cover problem statements, details of UIDAI APIs and products, which would be required to build custom solutions. These interactive sessions have been widely received and appreciated by many young innovators/participants. 

Evaluation of the submission has been planned through a jury based approach comprising of senior members/officials from the IT Industry, Academia, Consulting and Government by UIDAI. These members would evaluate the submissions through a structured process to identify the best solution, which will be rewarded by UIDAI and the team would be offered a placement, subject to fulfillment of other terms and conditions.

“As Aadhaar is already empowering residents, I wish all the best to these participants and hope that our young innovators, the building pillars of ‘New India’ will come up and surprise us with some outstanding approaches/solutions to strengthen the current ‘Aadhaar infrastructure’ which is ultimately beneficial for the residents in deriving maximum value from ‘Aadhaar’ related services”, said Dr. Saurabh Garg, CEO, UIDAI.