‘HACKDAY! GenAI Hackathon Contest 2024’ concluded at IIDS Kathmandu

Nepal has been facing deadly landslides with the onset of monsoon, claiming as many as 123 lives and affecting nearly a thousand families so far this year. The death toll has averaged 100 people per year since 2012 while the socio-economic setbacks the disaster brings to the country remain unaccounted for. 

Nepal’s disaster-related policies meanwhile have seen a transition from focusing on rescue and relief to risk reduction and management. Similarly, integrating existing and emerging technologies to enhance disaster risk management has become imperative. One such emerging technology is Generative Artificial Intelligence, popularly known as GenAI, which shows the recently concluded GenAI Hackathon.

A group of digital innovators, belonging to the Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction, presented their project at ‘HACKDAY! GenAI Hackathon Contest 2024’ organised by the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) in partnership with AgileMove Inc. last Friday.

The group led by Pooja Lamichhane, with other members Nitesh Sharma, Yogesh Regmi, and Hem Kiran Poudel, won the contest for ‘Digital Inventory for Landslides’ — an AI-powered solution for creating a comprehensive digital inventory of landslides in Nepal by leveraging satellite imagery and AI for landslide detection.

‘Design and Optimize Custom Automotive Parts’ by Jay Raj Mishra and Siddhartha Sitaula secured the first runner-up spot. The project presented an AI algorithms-based solution to generate optimised design alternatives for custom automotive parts, focusing on a lightweight, high-performance seat bracket. It aims to address critical industry challenges such as weight reduction, performance optimization, and time and cost efficiency, the press release said.

The second runner-up were Dharmendra Lekhak, Sneha Ghimire, Arju Pokharel, Aaryan Rijal, and Saurav Thakur. They developed ‘AI Tool for Breaking Language Barriers’ — an AI-powered tool to translate government publications from Nepali to English, making them more accessible to both Nepali and non-Nepali speakers.

There were other five projects, presented before five judges, which belonged to various walks of Nepal’s digital technology solution. They were MeroHealth AI for Nepal’s healthcare, GenAI to enhance the travel experience in Nepal, Generative AI for Automation of Teacher Transfer in Nepal, AI-driven bot for academic counselling, and Data Generator App for highly realistic datasets tailored for Software Testing and Diverse Applications.

The hackathon spanned three months when participants from across the country submitted proposals that anchored GenAI technology into tackling socio-economic issues. Of these, eight teams were selected and then paired with five mentors and experts from the Nepali diaspora having notable experience in the digital and IT sectors.

According to IIDS, this “first ever innovative” event in Nepal was designed to find solutions using Generative AI to some of Nepal’s most pressing socio-economic challenges in education, healthcare, finance, and environment sectors, among others.

“The Gen-AI Hackathon Finale is not just the culmination of months of hard work and collaboration, but also a pivotal moment in our journey towards harnessing the power of digital transformation for Nepal’s future,” said Dr Biswash Gauchan, Executive Director of IIDS. “This event exemplifies the potential of Generative AI to drive innovation and tackle the pressing challenges our country faces.” 

He recalls support of AgileMove and involvement of the Nepali diaspora, and expresses confidence that “today’s ideas will become tomorrow’s solutions, leading us towards a more prosperous and digitally empowered Nepal.”

Similarly, CEO of AgileMove Sushil Bhattachan said, “GenAI Hackathon 2024 event was driven by our commitment to support the aspirations of these young innovators, while also building awareness among business leaders about the transformative power of technology.”