Grand ICT Challenge 2020

HEADLINES:

Grand ICT Challenge under Jal Jeevan Mission receives impressive response

WHY IN NEWS:

Hot from PIB !

MINISTRY? :-Ministry of Jal Shakti

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Science and Technology : Schemes

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS take a note on implementation , focus and different stages of this initiative .

For MAINS can you name a few drawbacks of Jal Jeevan Mission ? Let us dive in !

CONTEXT:

The ICT grand challenge invites proposal for developing a ‘Smart water supply measurement and monitoring system’.

ICT Grand Challenge which bring innovative, modular, and cost effective solution.

The system would collect and facilitate centralised monitoring of data.

LAUNCH

National Jal Jeevan Mission in partnership with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) had launched an ICT Grand Challenge.
A total of 213 proposal from various Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Indian Companies, Indian LLPs have been received.
These proposals will now be scrutinized by a jury committee appointed by MEITY and select the proposals.

AIM

Aims is to harness vibrant ‘Internet of Things’ eco-systems for creating smart rural water supply system.

The goal is to create innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’ to be deployed at the village level.

FOCUS

The ambitious mission focuses on service delivery rather than mere creation of infrastructure.

This kind of technological challenge offers a great opportunity to ensure long-term sustainability of water supply systems in rural areas.
The pilot will be conducted in 100 villages.

IMPLEMENTED BY

Jal Jeevan Mission
Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
CDAC

SIGNIFICANCE

This grand challenge will harness the vibrant IoT eco-systems of India.
It will be for creating smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas.
This challenge will provide opportunity to work for cause of Jal Jeevan Mission.

Grand ICT Challenge 2020 | UPSC

It will also assure potable water supply through functional household tap connection to every rural household of the country.

The Grand challenge will provide support at ideation Stage, prototype development stage, deployment stage.

Digitisation of water supply infrastructure has the potential to solve some of the biggest societal problems facing the nation.
More importantly, it will help anticipate and address future challenges.

PRIZE

The best solution will get cash prize of Rs. 50 Lakh and runner ups will get prize of Rs. 20 Lakh each.

The successful developers will be given an opportunity to join the MeitY supported incubator for further nurturing of the solution.

ELIGIBILTY

The Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Companies, LLPs registered in India under Companies Act can apply.
The entity must have 51% or more shareholding with Indian citizen or person of Indian origin.

The applicant’s entity should not be a subsidiary company of any foreign corporation.

However, the 10 teams shortlisted at Ideation Stage will be required to apply for registration as Indian Startups/ Company/ MSMEs/ LLPs.
Companies are required to submit the proof of having applied at stage of submission of Prototype.
It will be expected that by the time of selection at the final stage, necessary registration will be completed.

RECOGNITION

STAGE–1 (IDEATION TO PROTOTYPE STAGE) : 10 proposals will be shortlisted and provided financial support to the tune of Rs. 7.5 Lakh each to develop a working prototype of the proposed solution within two months duration (max).
STAGE – 2 (PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCT STAGE) : Best four techno-economically viable prototype shall be selected for product development and each team will receive Rs 25 Lakh to build their solution .
These four teams shall be provided with financial support by the Jal Jeevan Mission, MeitY and the implementing agency (CDAC) for testing, deployment and demonstration at the live site.

For these field trials, each finalist will be provided the following financial support:

Towards sourcing and installation of devices/solutions deployment
Towards logistics and other contingency expenses @10 lakhs each

STAGE – 3 (PRODUCT DEPLOYMENT STAGE) : Based on evaluation, one winner and two runner-ups will be selected and supported by 50 Lakh (winner) and 20 Lakh each (runner-ups).

IASbhai WINDUP:

This will boost the idea and thrust of intiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India and Make in India.
Union Government’s flagship programme- Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is being implemented in partnership with States .

Ultimate goal is for providing Functional Household Tapwater Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024.

The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, i.e. water supply regularly in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality, on long-term basis.
This necessitates the use of modern technology in systematic monitoring of the programme and deliver data automatically for quality services.

SOURCES: PIB | Grand ICT Challenge 2020 | UPSC

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