Eleven teams declared winners of the Data for Social Good Hackathon-2021, conducted for students by the Telangana State Innovation Cell and Data Analytics and Computational Social Sciences programme of the University of Massachusetts (Umass), will get to present their innovative proposals at the Annual UMass Homecoming Research Symposium on November 4.
More than 700 students from across the country were allowed to work on the datasets and develop interpretations/insights on the progress of Telangana in various SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) during the 3-day virtual hackathon that was held from September 28. Of the 266 teams, 121 teams successfully submitted the visual interpretations and 11 teams made it to the winning list, a release on the hackathon from IT and Industries Minister K.T.Rama Rao’s office on Tuesday said.
Some of the notable institutions beyond Telangana whose students participated in the hackathon, including those from IIT Bombay, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT BHU Varanasi, Vellore Institute of Technology, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute. The submissions were spread out across the SDGs — Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well Being (SDG 3), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), and Climate Action (SDG 13).
TSIC Chief Innovation Officer Shanta Thoutam said the hackathon was an effort of the TSIC to inculcate skills of data analytics amalgamated with critical thinking for social impact among the students. Program Director at DACSS, University of Massachusetts, Meredith Rolfe said the team found unique ways to use data to study SDGs.
