Receives more than 500 entries from 35+ schools in Delhi
Aligning with Toyota’s global commitment to offer innovative Safety solutions, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) conceptualised and organized 3rd edition of Toyota Hackathon on Road Safety, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, according to a press release.
Students from Grade 9th to 12th, from schools across New Delhi participated in this intense challenge to develop digital road safety solutions in support of the National Mission for “Zero Fatality.” Toyota Kirloskar Motor organised this road safety initiative in association with Indian Road Safety Campaign. Aimed at creating an impactful consciousness, this unique initiative provides a platform to encourage and motivate young minds to be aware of the road safety challenges and become responsible safety ambassadors by developing effective digital road safety solutions.
Ms. Dipa Karmakar, Indian artistic gymnast, Padma Shri and Arjun Awardee along with Mr. Kamal Singh, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact Network India, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility & Public Relations and other Government officials and senior members from TKM & IIT Delhi attended the function.
The top performers of the hackathon were selected by eminent jury constituting of members drawn from diverse fields such as Academia, Corporates, Media, Transportation, Government, Police and Toyota experts. The Top five and the Best three were recognized and awarded trophies and cash prizes. Consolation prizes were also given out to motivate the participants for their enthusiastic participation and churning smart solutions for road safety challenges.
The event was organised at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The institute extended dedicated support to Toyota providing volunteers, mentors and campus facility for conducting the Road Safety Hackathon.
In the initial stage of the hackathon program, a basic online aptitude test was conducted for the 500 participating teams from schools across New Delhi. A three-phase screening process was undertaken to shortlist the best 50 teams for the onsite hackathon. These top 50 teams were further trained and mentored on basic technical skills coupled with required resources to support them during the hackathon. Each team were allotted 36 hours to work on their innovative ideas with guidance and mentoring from experts during the process to finally arrive at a prototype or a concrete idea as a road safety solution. TKM will further incubate these bright ideas and help the students develop and nurture the implementable solutions suggested by them in support of road safety cause.
Sharing his thoughts on this unique initiative, Mr. Kamal Singh, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact Network India, who was the Chief Guest, said, “Road accidents don’t only cause trauma to the family of the deceased but also contribute to the huge economic loss to the nation. It is important to engage the young school children in road safety campaigns at an early age to understand the road safety challenge and follow the right safety culture. It is vital to inculcate a positive behavior towards road safety at a grass-root level, to ensure safer roads for the young generation. It is a delight to witness these little wonders developing such out-of-the-box digital solutions to enhance road safety in India. It is really great to see safety leaders like Toyota coming forward to create such an innovative program for young minds to develop innovative solutions to make Indian roads safer. We would request more corporates to be a part of this movement and collaborate with Government to make mobility safer and reliable.”
Ms. Dipa Karmakar, Indian artistic gymnast, Padma Shri and Arjun Awardee, who was the Guest of Honor for the eventsaid, “Witnessing the overwhelming response from the young talents gives us the strength and power to achieve the goal of creating a safer tomorrow for the future generation. This initiative is a great way to stimulate discussions around road safety involving new technologies and increase the range of solutions to tackle this impairing issue, helping the youth unleash their talent and contribute to the cause of road safety. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Toyota for organizing this hackathon and involving students to dev elop innovative solutions, emphasizing on the importance of road safety to make Indian roads safer.”
Congratulating all the participants, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Senior Vice-President, External Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility & Public Relations said, “Safety is of utmost priority for all of us at Toyota and we believe that every citizen plays a key role, regardless of their age group, in creating a safety ecosystem. Since 2007, Toyota has been consistently and proactively engaging with stakeholders through its various Road Safety initiatives and pan-India campaigns.
This one-of-its-kind initiative organised in association with Indian Road Safety Campaign is an amalgamation of knowledge, talent and technology aiding the cause of Road Safety. With the best of the young minds from the country and support of IIT students and faculties coaching and mentoring the students, we are trying to develop implementable solutions which can help in addressing the serious concerns we face on the Indian roads, today. Children are the future of our country and it is pertinent to involve them at an early stage as it helps in inculcating responsible driving and safe behavior on the roads. We take this opportunity to congratulate the winners and thank all the participants for their efforts. We are confident the solutions presented today will effectively help us further strengthening our goal of achieving zero traffic fatality.”
He further added, “Taking this commitment towards road safety a step further, Toyota launched its global corporate initiative, Start Your Impossible (SYI), to achieve the ultimate goal of zero traffic fatality. It is through these initiatives that Toyota is committed to achieving a safer, more sustainable and mobile world for everyone.”
“Start Your Impossible” marks Toyota’s commitment to support the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable society in which everyone can challenge their impossible. SYI is also inspired by Toyota’s Worldwide partnership with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee to highlight the fighting spirit of Olympic and Paralympic athletes who are constantly challenging their “impossible”, the press release said.
