TiE Delhi-NCR announced its partnership with Prayatna to host an IT-enabled innovation-based Hackfest, the ‘Malaria Hackfest – Predict, Plan & Prevent’, powered by Mortein. With this initiative, TiE Delhi-NCR in partnership with Prayatna is seeking solutions that address gaps in surveillance, location spotting and forecasting malaria outbreaks. The program invites top tech schools like IITs, NITs, and IIITs to a hackfest to identify start-ups to fill gaps, with winners receiving up to INR 5 lakhs in prizes.
India needs to improve malaria management through IT-enabled innovation. This includes real-time surveillance systems for mosquito infestation patterns, forecasting increased outbreaks, and mapping hotspot areas for malaria breeding sites.
These systems should be targeted at policy makers, healthcare workforce, and the general population. A scalable model should be developed to address climate change, extreme temperatures, rainfall, and flora and fauna at national levels, ensuring informed decision-making. Speaking about the initiative, Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs and Partnerships, SOA, Reckitt, “With the help of the nation’s skilled youth from top technical schools, this programme seeks to develop scalable solutions to bridge the gaps of curtailing malaria and improve overall health of the nation.”
