Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon Concludes with Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Transport

Winning, innovative transport solutions were felicitated at the live-streamed award ceremony of the ‘Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon’ on March 3, 2021 organized by the Swedish Institute and supported by the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai and the Swedish Embassy in New Delhi. The closing ceremony concluded the 42-hour Hackathon (February 26-28, 2021) that brought together Swedish and Indian minds to co-create and execute futuristic solutions for global mobility challenges. The winning teams will get an opportunity to collaborate with major Swedish and Indian companies/ institutes to further develop their ideas and implement solutions for safe and sustainable transportation.

Felicitating the winners and partners, Anna Lekvall, Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai (representing the Swedish Government in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa) said “Congratulations to the winners of the Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon and heartfelt thanks to the participants, partners, jury, mentors, Swedish Institute and Team Sweden for your seamless, collaborative efforts. Delighted that the Hackathon proved to be a great platform for connecting like-minded people from both countries to identify and tackle global transport issues. Really inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment towards cocreating safe, sustainable mobility solutions. Looking forward to sustained engagement and game-changing innovations.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Mr Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport and Highways and the Minister of MSME, Govt. of India, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to send the message on the occasion of the event ‘Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon - changing the way we move’ organized by the Swedish institute. The mobility hackathon is an innovative initiative which reflects how Sweden and India can continue to work together and collaborate not just at a government level but with a broad range of stakeholders."

The Swedish Institute was in the lead on the hackathon, with support from 55 Swedish and Indian partners including startups, incubators, colleges, research institutes, road safety organizations and companies in sectors of sustainability, automotives and transport. Some of the Indian company partners included L&T Technology Services, Tata Motors, GMR Group, Indian Road Safety Campaign, Global Shapers Community and Cognify Labs.

Commenting on the association, Jeevan Prakash, Vice President and Regional Head of Nordics and Benelux at L&T Technology Services said, “Hackathons help foster technological innovation, nurture new ideas and budding talent. L&T Technology Services (LTTS) is proud to be a part of this prestigious 42-hour digital hackathon - a breeding ground for disruptive technology. L&T Technology Services was represented by its robust automotive team, experienced in providing the complete gamut of engineering services and solutions for its global customers. The thread of innovation has linked L&T Technology Services with Sweden for more than a decade, helping our clients in cutting edge technology development and partnering with them in their digital transformation journey. Sweden is one of the world’s leading startup hotspots and is also home to several much-loved brands. By expanding our footprint in Gothenburg and Stockholm, we cherish our warm relationship with Sweden and aim to serve a wide range of industries, that contributes further to the local ecosystem.”

Some of the Indian Institutes, Colleges and Incubators that partnered and participated in the Hackathon include IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Bombay (SINE), IIT Gandhinagar, College of Engineering - Pune, Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Pune.

Speaking on the partnership, Vandana Vyas, Senior Manager - Outreach, Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) at IIT Bombay, said, "It is encouraging to see Swedish Institute’s initiative on Mobility Hackathon that brought together innovators/ entrepreneurs from Swedish India Corridor to the world stage and push their innovative ideas to limits within stipulated time frame. A conglomeration of different ideas, theme-based use cases from mobility industry, dedicated Experts/ Mentors, Jury, added to the larger cause of innovations in mobility sector.  Society for innovation and entrepreneurship - SINE is privileged to be part of the event and will continue to partner in such endeavours."

About 500 participants - students, entrepreneurs, innovation enthusiasts, developers, designers, engineers, creative professionals and mobility experts - came together digitally from different geographies across Sweden and India. The participants were divided into 37 teams that worked on. The participants had access to a unique network of major Swedish/Indian companies/institutes and worked to solve questions based on open data sources. The teams received guidance from 76 mentors from both countries - professors, leaders, engineering, transport and creative experts - to further develop their solutions. A 48-member jury, comprising of experts for specified challenge areas, selected winners with the most promising solutions for the future.

Sharing her experience as a Jury member, ElsaMarie Dsilva, Founder of Red Dot Foundation, Mumbai said, “The Sweden India Mobility Hack is a great platform for young people to experiment and ideate on innovative solutions, seek feedback for their ideas and prototype into actual solutions. As a jury member, I have enjoyed reading through the mobility section. I cannot wait to see how these solutions develop. I wish all the teams the very best.”

Kushal Chinchanikar from the winning Team ‘The Right Truck’ and a student of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Navi Mumbai, shared his experience about the hack, “I had a great time in the Sweden-India Mobility Hackathon. The event was very well organized and we received timely support from the event organizers and mentors at all stages. We would like to further develop on our idea and contribute to society in some way.”