K.T. Rama Rao, IT Minister, Government of Telangana, presided over the awards ceremony; All women team wins first place for innovative solution on women’s safety
Cyient along with DJI announced the winners of Hackadrone 2018 at the Cyient office in Hyderabad. The ceremony was graced by the Minister for IT, MA & UD, Government of Telangana, K.T. Rama Rao, who also presented the awards to the winners.
Addressing the audience, the minister said that emerging technologies like drones can be a significant asset for planned urban development and have a massive societal impact in a country like India. He also complimented Cyient for leading this effort through the Hackadrone.
Hackadrone 2018 is India’s first UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) hackathon, a platform to facilitate innovative commercial and industrial solutions. Participating teams competed to develop original software applications on the DJI industrial drone platform. Industry options included utilities, telecommunications, energy & natural resources, smart cities, navigation, security, transportation, and agriculture. Cyient and DJI provided all the necessary support required, including drone platforms, mentoring, and expert help on the software development kit to develop the shortlisted ideas.
Hackadrone received an outstanding response, with more than 4,500 registrations and 617 proposals. Seven teams that included college students, technology professionals, and developers from across India were selected for the final round held at the Learning and Development Center at Cyientin Hyderabad, from February 5–9, 2018.
The finalists were judged based on the uniqueness of their solutions, scalability when applied to the real world, and demonstrability of their vision. The applications were assessed by a panel of judges that comprised Rama Iyer, Senior VP & Head–Innovation & Strategic Alliance, T-Hub; Reena Dayal Yadav, Director–The Garage, Microsoft; and Aadesh Bumb, Senior Manager–India & South Asia, DJI.
B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, Founder &Executive Chairman, Cyient, said, “I am delighted that Cyient hosted India’s first UAV hackathon, Hackadrone 2018, with an objective of stimulating innovation across the country for drone applications. Use of deep technology can help solve social issues in agriculture, national security, and public safety. I am pleased that we saw strong participation from the student community, start-ups, and multinationals.”
Speaking on the occasion, Krishna Bodanapu, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Cyient, said, “Hackathons are an engaging approach to foster imagination and build an ecosystem of ideation, deliberation, and implementation. I am pleased with the overwhelming response to Hackadrone 2018 and have enjoyed interacting with India’s finest talent in the UAV space over these past few days. It was exciting to see the range of incredible applications created by our finalists. We extend our warmest congratulations to the winning teams.”
Hackadrone 2018 was organized by Cyient and DJI in sponsorship with Microsoft and the Government of Telangana.
