In his keynote address, the Lieutenant Governor commended the pioneer initiative by Government of India, celebrating the spirit of innovation and collaboration, and providing a dynamic platform for brightest minds of the country to develop and showcase their creative solutions to real-world problems. “I see Smart India Hackathon as a powerful instrument to bridge the gap between educational institutions and industries,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

Chancellor Suneel Galgotia and Dr. Dhruv Galgotia present a memento to Shri Manoj Sinha, LG J&K

In the next 4 days during the Hackathon, participants from across the country will work on critical problem statements to develop successful innovation.

Highlighting the transformation in innovation landscape of the country in the past 10 years, under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Lieutenant Governor said, India has emerged as one of the global leaders in new inventions, which are seen as critical to the future well-being of society and to drive the nations economic growth.

On the occasion, the Lieutenant Governor called upon the youth to translate their ideas into socially useful and commercially viable applications and ensure that fruits of new inventions reach all sections.

“Your courage, dedication, talent and zeal to explore the unknown will give new impetus to the journey of Developed India,” the Lieutenant Governor told the Youth.

“We need cutting edge technologies to be the leading nation in technological inventions and at the same time we need environment-friendly innovations for sustainable development. To achieve the goal of Developed Nation by 2047, we need knowledge, capability and commitment of innovators, collaborations, support for new ideas, discoveries, marketing and commercialization of innovations,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

He said new innovations are touching the lives of common man in ways that we cannot even fully imagine today. Our focus should also be on innovations that would benefit society at large like water and energy conservation, waste management, precision agriculture and e-governance, he added. He also asked the young innovators to explore diverse areas in Agriculture sector pertaining to soil health, pest infestation, climate change, real time data etc.

The Lieutenant Governor emphasised that inclusive development and economic growth should be the main aim behind every innovation.

“Innovation should lead us to social change and drive Indias economic growth. Augmented Reality (AR) in Industry 4.0 technology should contribute to design, product development, maintenance and quality control in different sectors and help our manufacturers and find solutions to their operational problems and production downtime,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

He further highlighted that better system integration and smart factories will be the most dynamic aspect of Industry 4.0 involving physical equipment and digital tools and also it will be the best example of collaboration between human and technology.

“For Industry 4.0 Factories and to mitigate the social challenges of food, water, environment and energy, we need intelligent and integrated devices. All the core components of Industry 4.0 technologies, Internet of Things, Big Data, Augmented Reality, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Robotics, additive manufacturing and Simulation will profoundly impact traditional area of space, atomic energy and defence technologies,” he said.

The Lieutenant Governor underscored the need to strengthen the partnership between academia, industry and policymakers to provide solutions to the challenges of society and the nation. He further asked the mentors and faculty members to encourage students to focus on “Problem First” and promote entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Universities’ campuses.

The Lieutenant Governor also emphasized the role of educational institutions in establishing India as a Knowledge economy and stressed on implementation of National Education Policy 2020 in letter and spirit.

Shri Ashok Bajpai, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha; Shri Suneel Galgotia, Chancellor, Galgotias University; Dr. K. Mallikharjuna Babu, Vice Chancellor, faculty members, students of the University, prominent citizens and young innovators from various regions were present.

Chancellor Shri Sunil Galgotia addressed the participants, noting that the Smart India Hackathon provides a unique platform for unlocking the creativity and innovation inherent in young minds. He announced 50 percent scholarship to the students from Jammu and Kashmir. Shri Suneel Galgotia emphasized that through such hackathons, students can actively contribute to the nation by finding solutions to pressing challenges.

CEO Dr. Dhruv Galgotia emphasizes the universitys dedication to contributing to the vision of a developed India. He remarked, “We are steadfastly advancing on the path of empowering society through education and fostering national progress through societal transformation.“