The Union Minister of Communications, Electronic and Information technologySwadeshi Microprocessor Challenge, the participant in this challenge will receive financial support of Rs 4.30 crore at various stages of the challenge to develop a hardware prototype and incubating a start-up.
The registration process begins on 18thAugust through MyGov portal and end in June 2021, with an opportunity for 100 Semi-finalists to win total Rs one crore of the award, 25 finalists will be winning a reward of Rs one crore and top 10 teams reaching the finale, will get the seed fund of total Rs 2.30 crore and 12 months incubation support, the challenge will be spread over 10 months.
Participants will also get a chance to translate their inventions around Swadeshi Processors, show them at a bigger viewership platform and enable them to scale from ideation to marketplace, thereby standing a chance to contribute to the overall mission of AtmaNirbhart Bharat.
Swadeshi microprocessor challenge seeks to invite innovators, start-ups and students to use these microprocessors to develop various technology products for Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Background of the Challenge
There is a growing need for Swadeshi Compute Hardware, which shall be part of every Smart Device deployed in different domains, including Electronics for public utility services such as Surveillance, Transportation, Environmental condition monitoring, to commodity appliances like smart fans/ locks/ washing machines. In addition, with growing penetration of smart electronics in strategic areas including Space, Defence and Nuclear energy, the need for Swadeshi Compute Hardware is crucial. It is not just the cost or embargo that drives this need, but also the dependence on external vendors, long term sustenance, quick enhancements to suit the ever-growing requirements, and most-importantly Security, which drives #AatmaNirbharta in Hardware domain, as the only option.
Under Microprocessor Development Programme spearheaded by MeitY at C-DAC, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay, not only the family of industry-grade Microprocessors has been designed from the scratch but also the compute ecosystem around them has been evolved as a step towards meeting India’s future requirements.
How the Challenge can give a boost to Aatmanirbhar Bharat
To provide additional momentum to the strong ecosystem of the start-up, innovation and research in the country, “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for Aatmanirbhar Bharat” has been launched by Union Minister of Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad. The challenge invites innovators, start-ups and students to use SHAKTI (32bit) and VEGA (64 bit) microprocessors to develop various technology products.
Using the Open Source Architecture under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of Ministry of Electronics and IT, SHAKTI and VEGA have been developed by IIT Madras along with the center for DevelopmentofAdvanceComputing (CDAC), respectively.
Aim of the Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge
According to the Ministry of Electronic &IT (MeitY), this initiative is aimed at meeting India’s future requirements of strategic and industrial sectors. It also has the potential to mitigate the issues of security, licensing, technology obsolescence and most crucially to cut dependency on imports. The design, development and fabrication of these state-of-the-art processor variants at the foundry in the country and abroad make for a successful leapfrog to the ultimate goal of a vibrant ecosystem of Electronic System Design & Manufacturing in the country.
The challenge provides further impetus to the strong ecosystem of start-ups, innovators & researchers in the country, MeitY announces Swadeshi