Chandigarh, In an initiative aimed at positioning Haryana as a hub for drone innovation, indigenous technology development, advanced manufacturing and youth-led entrepreneurship, “Dronothon-Haryana drone innovation challenge” was launched to connect universities with real-world industry problems.
Startup Haryana, Department of Industries & Commerce, and Drone Tech Multi-State Cooperative Society Limited announced the launch.
The initiative was discussed during a high-level drone industry consultation held here and chaired by Amit Agrawal, Commissioner and Secretary, Industries department Haryana.
Representatives from leading drone manufacturers, technology companies, training organisations, incubators, and other key stakeholders from the drone ecosystem attended the meeting, an official statement said.
A key feature of Dronothon will be its statewide university outreach through the Startup Haryana incubation ecosystem.
The programme will reach universities and higher educational institutions through Startup Haryana-empanelled incubators. These incubators will serve as an important bridge between Startup Haryana, industry and university innovators, facilitating campus outreach, identification of student teams, mentorship, innovation challenges, evaluation and incubation support.
The objective is to create a decentralised innovation network where universities from different parts of Haryana can participate in Dronothon and gain access to real-world industry challenges.
The central idea behind Dronothon is to create a direct bridge between industry requirements and Haryana’s academic and innovation ecosystem.
Under the initiative, industries will be invited to submit real-world problem statements and technology challenges.
Universities, engineering colleges, researchers, faculty members, students and innovators across Haryana will then be invited to develop practical, scalable and commercially viable solutions to these challenges.
Dronothon is envisioned as more than a one-time competition. The larger objective is to create a sustained innovation pipeline for Haryana’s drone and emerging-technology ecosystem.
Universities will be encouraged to constitute multidisciplinary teams involving students, faculty members, researchers and innovators. Each team will have the opportunity to work on specific problem statements identified by participating industries and other relevant stakeholders.
The initiative will enable Haryana’s students to move beyond theoretical academic projects and work on actual problems with identifiable industry, commercial or government applications.
A significant feature of Dronothon will be the direct involvement of industry throughout the innovation cycle. Participating drone manufacturers and technology companies will not only identify challenges but will also be encouraged to provide technical mentorship, domain expertise and practical industry inputs to participating university teams.
The objective is to ensure that innovations emerging from Dronothon are aligned with actual market requirements, technological feasibility, commercial viability and deployment opportunities.
Selected solutions may subsequently be considered for Proof of Concept (PoC), field trials, incubation, industry mentorship, investment facilitation and commercialisation, subject to applicable programme guidelines and evaluation. PTI
