Dharmendra Pradhan addressed UNESCO India-Africa Hackathon valedictory session; winners announced

NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended the valedictory session of UNESCO India Africa Hackathon 2022 at Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh today.

The ministry of education (MoE) along with the ministry of external affairs and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organised the UNESCO-India-Africa Hackathon from November 22 to November 25, 2022.

Encouraging students from Africa to study in India, Pradhan said, “The unique initiative brought talents from two continents with similar aspirations. More than 340 students from 22 African countries are present here combining their skills with 230 Indian students. More than 100 mentors and over 60 evaluators have done this in 36 hours to try and find solutions to 20 problem statements."

"Initiatives like, UIAH advances the scope of cooperation, enriches cross-cultural exchanges, sows the seeds of leadership, creative thinking & entrepreneurship and strengthens the bonds of friendship."

He thanked all the mentors and officials for building a bond between India and African nations. "India is opening the door for everyone across the country to share its rich culture and knowledge. Innovation in the field of technology is the need of the hour as was seen during the recent COVID-19 pandemic," he said while addressing the valedictory session.

"Six Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and IISc Bangalore have developed 5G testbed at IIT Madras. Subsequently, 5G network will be made available across the country," he said.

Initiatives like, #UIAH advances the scope of cooperation, enriches cross-cultural exchanges, sows the seeds of leadership, creative thinking & entrepreneurship and strengthens the bonds of friendship.

I congratulate all the winners of the @UNESCO India-Africa Hackathon. pic.twitter.com/qalaJ1Jmj5

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) November 25, 2022

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"The hackathon is a step to build a strong ecosystem for creation and hand-holding of start-ups of tomorrow from the educational campus. The initiatives also provide a platform for young innovators," he added.

The five themes were education, renewable energy/sustainability, drinking water and sanitation, agriculture and health and hygiene.

Under the Agriculture sub-theme, Techno Cratss team was declared the winners. Mozambique, Niger, Morocco, India were the participating countries. They developed an application to monitor soil moisture using a standard digital image and machine learning technology.