Kochi: The first edition of “Digital Youth Hackathon 2022-23” for students of colleges and universities in Kerala has been launched by Kerala Technological University (KTU) Vice Chancellor Dr Ciza Thomas.

The hackathon is organised by NeST Digital, a subsidiary of the NeST Group and a leading Engineering Transformation company, in association with ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) and KTU.

The first phase of competitions is scheduled to start on the December 16 and the winners will be announced in the first week of February 2023. The event will provide a platform for college and university students to showcase their skills in ideation, coding, and building solutions to solve real-life problems.

The hackathon provides opportunities for students to see the latest technologies in action, and get mentored by NeST Digital’s thought leaders during different phases of the competition. Prize money of Rs 1,00,000 will be awarded to the first position, Rs 50,000 and Rs 35,000 for the second and third positions respectively along with job offers in Nest Digital for the top three winners of the Codeathon and the top 3 teams of Ideathon+ Hackathon. Along with this, KTU also associates with NeST Digital for a placement drive for 2023 pass-outs and internships for engineering students.

“We understand that this is going to be a great platform for students to invest their skills and demonstrate their talents to a wider community. The students have to use technology as the core in solving the most pressing social problems of today. This type of hackathon and interactions will benefit our students to reach great heights. We urge for institutions like NeST Digital’s support in guiding, mentoring, and encouraging the future generation, and make them connect with real-world problems,” said Ciza Thomas.

“Opportunity such as this is an excellent platform for the student community to showcase their tech talent. As an enabler, we are delighted to be part of this initiative by Nest Digital,” said Santhosh C Kurup, CEO, ICT Academy, Kerala.

Nazneen Jahangir, executive director & CEO of NeST Digital, said, “The Digital Youth Hackathon provides a platform for the young minds of Kerala to solve real-world problems and demonstrate how technology can create an impact on the society we live in. This will be an opportunity for students to collaborate, share ideas, get mentored & work at NeST Digital”

The hackathon will be conducted in 3 Phases, where their Coding, Problem-solving & Prototyping skills will be tested. Phase 1 is an individual event which will happen virtually, Phase 2 & 3 are team events, with each team having a maximum of 6 members. Participants can register for the Hackathon by visiting the page here: https://yaksha.com/offerings/hackathons/nest-digital-youth- hackathon/.

The last date for Registration is December 13.