The i.Mobilothon Hackathon co-hosted by ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited, ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab India and Volkswagen IT Services India Pvt. Ltd with its Software Development Centre offered Students, start-ups and employees a chance to shape the future of the automotive industry with innovative concepts relating to mobility and Information Technology.
Summarising the event, Jarmila Plachá, Managing Director of ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab emphasised, “With the i.Mobilothon Hackathon, ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab India and its partners are looking for young local IT talent. India is one of the world’s biggest drivers of innovation in digitalisation, and a large proportion of the population are ‘digital natives. The ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab India team aims to use this valuable talent pool to develop tailor-made digital mobility solutions for ŠKODA’s customers in the region. The i.Mobilothon Hackathon offers the ideal setting: It is with this mindset that young talents here are working on innovative new ideas.”
During the competition, the participants addressed issues such as the future of individual mobility in India and innovative ways of retaining customers. Students, start-ups and employees of the Volkswagen Group each competed in teams at the i.Mobilothon Hackathon, with the best in each team winning cash prizes or non-cash prizes. The best programming talents also received contract offers.
In total, the competition received a total of 1355 registrations, of which 131 teams competed in the hackathon. From 1 July 2021, they had 14 weeks to realise their ideas and work on their concepts. After an evaluation and prototype phase, the teams presented their ideas before the jury. In the SME category Syook, won the first prize for their innovative Real-Time Location System application, Stemly was awarded as a runner up for their idea on an AI-based aftersales solution.
The other ideas that made the cut were an: AR Based Car Configurator by team cDrive in the internal category and a customer service AI ChatBot by Stanislav Chuprin in the student category.
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Pranav Kulkarni, CIO, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India said “Technology innovation is happening at an unmatched scale and pace in India & through this event, we have witnessed excellent participation from the startup community. This was our 2nd successful Hackathon event. We will continue to engage with bright minds in Technology to identify unique solutions for our business needs”
Bijoy Chatterjee, Head, ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab India adds “These 14 weeks were part of a very exciting journey where we saw huge participation drawing high energy and enthusiasm in the six challenges given. We now look forward to the next steps associated with the winners.”
India is the fourth largest car producer in the world, and the country ranks seventh for commercial vehicles. At the same time, the subcontinent is an IT hotspot and has a thriving start-up scene: in 2019 alone, more than 1,300 start-ups working on IT services were founded in the region, and there are already more than 8,900 such tech start-ups in total.
As part of the Volkswagen Group’s INDIA 2.0 project, which is led by ŠKODA AUTO, the Czech car manufacturer expanded the ŠKODA AUTO DigiLabs network to India. This is the fourth location alongside the innovation workshops in Prague, Tel Aviv and Beijing. The Czech car manufacturer is systematically establishing these innovation centres in important markets and high-tech regions, with all four locations working closely together. The team in Pune supports the core business of ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited, in particular, through its work on digital mobility services. It also collaborates with technology companies, networks with promising local start-ups and promotes local talent.
Volkswagen IT Services India Private Limited has also set up a software development centre with offices in Gurugram and Pune. It was launched by Volkswagen IT Services India Private Limited and supports the IT departments at both ŠKODA AUTO and the Volkswagen Group. The programme apps and digital services developed there for all Volkswagen Group brands in the Indian market create an enhanced customer experience for car buyers in India.
