Smart India Hackathon Resources

Smart India Hackathon
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Here are some definitive links to get you started with your Smart India hackathon Prep:

1.) Problem statements can be accessed: https://www.sih.gov.in/sih2020PS
Please note that as of 08/12/2019 not all problem statements are announced, so if you don’t find something you want to do, it might be worthwhile to wait it out.

2.) You should probably also read the FAQs: https://www.sih.gov.in/pdf/Student%20FAQs.pdf

3.) Follow i4c (Inter Institutional Inclusive Innovations Center) on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/i4C.India/
Note: This is pretty much the only way to get any useful updates about SIH. From personal experience, the app is very infrequently updated and this page is your best bet to get doubts cleared.

4.) Download the SIH App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.psl.sihapps&hl=en_IN
This is mandatory for the competition. So might as well do it.

5.) This Video is a pretty comprehensive Q&A for SIH in general: Inter Institutional Inclusive Innovations Center - i4C - SIH 2019 Introduction and Q&A | Facebook

6.) For the hardware edition, this is what they’re looking for: Inter Institutional Inclusive Innovations Center - i4C - Prepping for SIH2019 Hardware Grand Finale | Facebook

Note: You need to have a team of 6 members with at least 1 girl in it, so keep that in mind. It’s always useful to have a couple of industry mentors who’d be willing to go with you to the venue (and help you code!). I didn’t, and even though I won my job would have definitely be easier if I had a few adults to deal with all the bureaucratic stuff (there’s a lot of it at SIH).

All the best with your preparations! If you have any questions regarding any of the above in mind, please comment here. I will be making another post for preparation strategies soon.

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That’s unheard of. What kind oh bureaucratic stuff can happen in a hackathon?!

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Oh there’s a lot of weird stuff that goes on at the hackathon. They expect 2-3 industry ‘mentors’ to be there along with one teacher from the college, and those mentors use their clout to get their students access to stuff. Like our venue had only eight 3D printers, and the mentors with clout were able to get almost exclusive access to them ( we got around that by 3D printing in the night and not sleeping in the day).

Other stuff too. Sometimes there’s a limited number of coolers and stuff (We were in chennai). Teams that have influential mentors stand to gain there too. After every day’s of judging, the judges go around talking to the mentors, I haven’t seen any corruption, but I can’t rule it out either.

Also there’s an insane amount of paperwork to fill, forms to sign and all that. Teams that have mentors make the mentors do all of it, so they can focus on their hack. You also have the organisers pressuring you to do Yoga every morning, which the mentors somehow make their own teams avoid. If you want to see a 4 day sleep deprived me doing yoga in the front row in Chennai at 10 am OUTSIDE, here’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADSAIyW0M6k

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