Smart Solutions Challenge and Inclusive Cities Awards 2022 | 03 Sep 2022
Why in News?
Recently, Smart Solutions Challenge and Inclusive Cities Awards 2022 were awarded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Why were the Key Highlights of the Event?
- In the category of early-stage innovations, the winner was a wearable technology product, Fifth Sense by Glovatrix Pvt. Ltd.
- This product translates sign language gestures to speech and text using sensors and Artificial Intelligence.
- In the second category of market-ready solutions, Mouseware by Dextroware Devices Pvt. Ltd. was the winner.
- Mouseware is a head-wearable device that enables hands-free control of computers and smart gadgets.
- Belagavi Smarty City’s system for those with disabilities to access education and healthcare was awarded the top prize in the category of implemented solutions.
What should we Know about the Awards?
- About:
- The Smart Solutions Challenge is an initiative of the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the United Nations (UN)) in India.
- NIUA and UN in India are looking for innovative ideas, solutions, technologies, products, and business solutions that can help break-down and resolve complex city-level inclusion and accessibility challenges faced by persons with disabilities, women and girls, and the elderly.
- Significance:
- These solutions will be instrumental in integrating universal design, which will help achieve Sustainable Development Goals’ target 11.7- to provide safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces for all vulnerable communities.
What is National Institute of Urban Affairs?
- NIUA is an institute for research, training and information dissemination in urban development and management. It is located in New Delhi, India.
- It was established in 1976 as an autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
- The Institute is supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, State Governments, urban and regional development authorities and other agencies concerned with urban issues.
What are Other Initiatives Related to Urban Development?
- Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).
- Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs).
- Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0.
- India Smart Cities Fellowship Program.
- TULIP-The Urban Learning Internship Program.
UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question
Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Smart India Hackathon 2017? (2017)
- It is a centrally sponsored scheme for developing every city of our country into Smart Cities in a decade.
- It is an initiative to identify new digital technology innovations for solving the many problems faced by our country.
- It is a programme aimed at making all the financial transactions in our country completely digital in a decade.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 2 and 3 only
Ans: B
Exp:
- Smart India Hackathon, 2017 was a 36 hour non-stop digital product development competition during which teams of thousands of technology students tried to build innovative digital solutions for the problems identified by 29 different Ministries/Departments of GoI. Hence, statement 2 is correct and 1, 3 are not correct.
- For the first time, government departments directly engaged with students, challenging them to build digital solutions to improve their efficiency, plug revenue leakages and corruption.
- The ‘Grand Finale’ of Smart India Hackathon, 2017 was organized, simultaneously across 26 different cities and the winners got support for converting their ideas into startups apart from cash prizes.