ITC Infotech, a specialized global technology services provider and a fully-owned subsidiary of ITC Ltd, successfully concluded the fourth edition of its flagship annual co-creation and technology innovation platform ‘iTech 2018’. As part of iTech 2018, ITC Infotech organized a Startup Showcase and a programing Codeathon on December 8-9, 2018, at its Bangalore headquarters.
The Startup ‘Showcase’ has been designed with the objective of providing innovative technology startups a platform to present their solutions directly to businesses. Shortlisted startups pitched business solutions powered by new age technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Augment Virtual & Mixed Reality, Blockchain and IoT across three industry verticals – Industry 4.0, HealthTech and FinTech. The potential clients for these startups included C level executives from ITC Infotech’s global client base, senior business decision makers, including CIOs from various ITC Ltd., businesses, technology leaders from ITC Infotech’s leading ISV and technology platform partners, and leaders from across ITC Infotech’s various technology LoBs and industry verticals. Two startups, JioVio and Ethereal Machines won a cash prize of Rs. 2 Lakhs each, and the chance to co-develop their solution with ITC Infotech as a part of its go-to-market strategy. JioVio is a med-tech company focused on providing a positive pregnancy, infant care and parenting experience with its innovation in healthcare technology. Ethereal Machines solves manufacturing problems faced by industries by equipping them with affordable machines. Additionally, this year two startups – Detect Technology and NeoEyed won the special jury award for presenting exemplary solutions.
The iTech programing Codeathon, an open forum for students, professional developers and early stage technology startups, witnessed some of the sharpest technology minds compete and created code for complex business applications. Participants addressed various challenges included applications to enable labor matching for farmers & farm owners, interactive mobile UI component using platform specific SDKs, offline analytics for mobile applications, offline app sync and process automation. The codeathon also had an open innovation category to explore Blockchain solution across Industry 4.0, HealthTech and Fintech. Pulse (formerly known as DocTalk) won the Codeathon challenge and was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 2 Lacs. The first runner-up was a team from Institute of Technical Education & Research Bhubaneshwar who won a cash prize of Rs 1 Lacs and the second runner-up was a team from RR Donnelley who won a cash prize of Rs. 50,000. Team from CMR Institute of Technology and Mangalore Institute of Technology & Engineering won special jury awards. Select codeathon participants were also offered internship opportunities with ITC Infotech.
The iTech 2018 jury panel consisted of business leaders from ITC Infotech’s clients and platform & ISV partners, along with senior leaders from various divisions of ITC Ltd.
Commenting on the success of iTech 2018, Sushma Rajagopalan, CEO & MD, ITC Infotech, said, “As a technology company in the digital era, it is important for us to create an effective eco-system in order to develop innovative and disruptive solutions. Our objective is to collaborate with our employees, with our clients and ISV partners, and the world of startups, to work at the cutting edge of technology and make innovation a way of life at ITC Infotech. iTech is an extension of our philosophy to foster startups in a non-threating environment through partnership with our clients, and the larger ecosystem. Through iTech, we are also creating a platform to enhance the learning experiences of the next generation of technologists.”
The fourth edition of iTech 2018 received over 3500 entries for the Codeathon challenge and 32 teams were shortlisted for the final round of development. For Startup Showcase, 15 shortlisted startups were invited to showcase their solutions at the event as a part of the start-up showcase from the 200+ entries that were received.