With the recent launch of the Digital India Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission, a challenge has been set up to encourage Indian application developers and innovators. This initiative is part of the government’s response to the ban on 59 Chinese apps and the ongoing changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge
The Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge aims to provide a platform for Indian developers and innovators to showcase their ideas and products. The challenge will be hosted jointly by the government and members of the tech community to ensure a more comprehensive approach. The primary goal is to create an Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) app ecosystem within the country.
Objectives of the Challenge
This innovative challenge has multiple objectives. Firstly, it seeks to promote the visibility of existing apps and help them achieve their projected goals. Secondly, it aspires to encourage the creation of tech products that provide solutions to technology-related problems. To facilitate this, it offers mentorship, tech support, and guidance throughout the entire development life-cycle.
How the Challenge Works: Two Tracks
The Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge operates on two tracks. Track one is aimed at promoting existing apps across categories like e-learning, work-from-home, gaming, business, entertainment, office utilities, and social networking. The support provided includes mentoring, hand-holding, and practical aid. The objective is to identify high-quality apps for the leaderboard, with the process expected to be completed in about a month.
Track two focuses on fostering the development of new apps. For this purpose, the initiative provides support in ideation, incubation, prototyping, rollout, and market access. The goal here is to develop new champions in the Indian tech industry.
The Impact of COVID-19 and the Ban on Chinese Apps
The advent of Covid-19 has brought major disruptions to daily life, which technology is now being used to address. The ban on 59 Chinese apps by the central government has further sparked a significant shift in the tech landscape. These two factors have made the need for an Atmanirbhar app ecosystem more critical than ever. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge thereby serves to engage and empower Indian developers and innovators to rise to this occasion.
In summary, the Digital India Atmanirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge provides a dynamic platform for Indian tech talent, fostering an environment conducive to invention and improvement. With its dual-track operation, it aims not only to bring quality existing apps to the forefront but also to encourage the creation of novel solutions in response to current needs.