CIE at IIITH hosts Geospatial Hackathon in Collaboration with DST, SOI, Microsoft and CIE for geospatial map technologies

The hackathon attracted over 500 applications, of who 70 were selected for the final round.

Final 4 winners built solutions including Weather Forecast API services, efficient Geographical Text Analysis etc.

HYDERABAD, India, June 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CIE at IIITH hosted the Finale Event of the DST Geospatial Hackathon, with DST, SOI and Microsoft on 29 May 2023. 4 winners were selected post a national campaign that attracted applications, with a large number of startups/research teams and students applying. CIE IIIT-H had launched the hackathon earlier this year on 14 January 2023.

The Geospatial Hackathon had two challenges: A Startup Challenge to promote the use of geospatial technologies in solving real-world problems. The second one was the Research Challenge, which was specific to real-time geospatial problem statements given by DST (Survey of India). The challenges were open to students, innovators, researchers, working professionals and startups.

The winners of the challenge are Faizan Khan (A high-resolution, dynamic and accurate weather forecast API ), Dhanashri Patil (App, that will measure the UN SDG Goals via Geospatial data), Ambarish Ganguly (The socio-economic data that would be consolidated with geospatial data as well as tabular data), VSS Kiran (GeoAI entity recognition model to extract a predefined set of entities from raw text and generate thematic maps).

The top 5 in each challenge are Team Sac (a model that learns segmentation features effectively through a diverse set of satellite images using deep learning), Team Technosync (Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger technology that enables the creation of a decentralized and secure digital record of transactions), Pyare Lal ( point cloud segmentation using deep learning is to utilize the RandlaNet architecture), Garudylatics (GeoAI model which is capable of real-time identification and classification of road cracks), CommutLink (contactless solutions to identify violations in the use of cycle lanes, capture evidence of violation), and The Saviour (Precision agriculture, Environmental monitoring, Building a community for farmers).

The Finale Event of the DST Geospatial Hackathon was held for all the winners and the top 5, which was joined by the DST, SOI, Microsoft and IIIT-Hyderabad Teams.

The guests who joined the DST Geospatial Hackathon included Sanjay Dhingra (Director, Public Sector, Microsoft), Prof. Ramesh Loganathan (COO, CIE IIITH), Ravindra Kumar Anand (Director of sales - Public Sector, Microsoft), P J Narayanan (Director, IIIT-H), D N Pathak (Director, Survey (Air) & Delhi Geo-spatial Data Centre, Survey of India), and Tushar Vaish (Surveyor, Superintending Surveyor at Survey of India).

The DST Geospatial Hackathon offers the winners a POC to work with Survey of India, Tech Support from IIITH and Azure credits from Microsoft. Also, the opportunities to participate and present at industry events.

Prof. Ramesh Loganathan, COO at CIE-IIITH said "Very happy that IIITH got the opportunity to drive this unique challenge hackathon to get solutions from both research and startups. Such initiatives are much needed to seed and nurture innovations coming from research."

DN Pathak, Director at Survey (Air) & Delhi Geo-spatial Data Centre, Survey of India said "The Geospatial Hackathon not only showcased the power of geospatial technology but also exemplified the importance of collaboration and teamwork. Throughout the hackathon, participants showcased remarkable problem-solving abilities and utilized geospatial data to uncover valuable insights. The creative solutions developed during the event highlighted the potential of geospatial technology to transform industries, improve decision-making, and create sustainable solutions for a better future."

Sanjay Dhingra, Director at Public Sector, Microsoft said "The Great Collaboration between Microsoft, IIITH, DST and SOI has created an incredible journey, a hackathon dedicated to Geospatial Technology. We are excited to carry this momentum forward inspiring others and making a long-lasting impact in the world of Geospatial technology".

The winners of the DST Geospatial Hackathon, Startup Challenge are

Tensor Dynamics A high-resolution, dynamic and accurate weather forecast API providing weather data at multiple spatiotemporal scales designed to serve the needs of the Power industry.

Morai Solutions The solution is to develop an App, that will measure the UN SDG Goals via Geospatial data. For Eg, in the case of hospitals (UN SDG Goal 3 - Healthcare), it will display the spatial distribution of Hospitals in a given area, as well as per population density. A progress tracker will measure the SDG Goal progress every year.

The winners of the DST Geospatial Hackathon, Research Challenge are:

Ambarish Ganguly The solution would be to develop the Socio-Economic Hub for India. The socio-economic data would be consolidated with geospatial data as well as tabular data.

Garudalytics Pvt Ltd Developed a GeoAI entity recognition model to extract a predefined set of entities from raw text and generate thematic maps.

The Top 5 of the DST Geospatial Hackathon, Startup Challenge are

Tensor Dynamics A high-resolution, dynamic and accurate weather forecast API providing weather data at multiple spatiotemporal scales designed to serve the needs of the Power industry.

Morai Solutions The solution is to develop an App, that will measure the UN SDG Goals via Geospatial data. For Eg, in the case of hospitals (UN SDG Goal 3 - Healthcare), it will display the spatial distribution of Hospitals in a given area, as well as per population density. A progress tracker will measure the SDG Goal progress every year.

Garudylatics Pvt Ltd GeoAI model which is capable of real-time identification and classification of road cracks, potholes and other features on archived and live video feeds. It analyzes their spatial density and severity and presents the information on a dashboard.

CommutLink Develop contactless solutions to identify violations in the use of cycle lanes, capture evidence of violation (infringement by other vehicles for movement or stopping) and alert the same to concerned authorities for enforcement.

The Saviour

1. Precision agriculture
2. Environmental monitoring
3. Building a community for farmers

About IIIT-Hyderabad

The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) is an autonomous research university founded in 1998 that focuses on the core areas of Information Technology, such as Computer Science, Electronics and Communications, and their applications in other domains through inter-disciplinary research that has a greater social impact. Some of its research domains include Visual Information Technologies, Human Language Technologies, Data Engineering, VLSI and Embedded Systems, Computer Architecture, Wireless Communications, Algorithms and Information Security, Robotics, Building Science, Earthquake Engineering, Cognitive Science, Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Education Technologies, Power Systems, IT in Agriculture and e-Governance.

Website: www.iiit.ac.in

About CIE IIIT Hyderabad

The Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) was set up in 2008 and has since grown to be the largest academic incubator in the country. CIE-IIITH was supported by DST (TBI) and MeitY (TIDE) in the initial years. Today, there are very active programs focused on emerging technology startups, research-based startups, medical technologies, and social technology startups. In the past 14 years, CIE has housed over 300+ startups that have raised about 200 Cr in funding and created over 2000 jobs.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1900509/IIITH_Logo.jpg