31st March 2023, Kathmandu
ADB Hackathon as a part of the ADB-TA 9897: Accelerating Sanitation for All in Asia and the Pacific (Nepal Project) is being organized on April 27-29, 2023 with ADB and Government of Nepal, Ministry of Water Supply, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management, Project Management Office (DWSSM/PMO) as Hosts and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) as the Co-host.
The event is managed by the Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN) under the supervision of a Social Engineer consultant of ADB who is the Focal Person for the Hackathon.
The Hackathon is an innovative event that inspires innovators across Nepal to leverage technology, creativity, and teamwork to develop technological solutions to improve the safety and dignity of sanitation workers in the country.
The Hackathon is part of a broader technical assistance program of ADB that seeks to accelerate sanitation for all in Asia and the Pacific. Nepal is one of the participating countries.
The goal of this hackathon is to identify start-up companies with innovative ideas or technological solutions that can improve the health, safety, welfare, and working conditions of sanitation workers in Nepal. Through a competitive selection process, we will identify a startup or JV of startups that will work closely with the project’s expert consulting engineer, PMO, and other stakeholders.
Overall the project aims to help transform sanitation into a respectable profession by inventing/developing/transferring these technical solutions, and currently piloting them in two cities – Bharatpur and Nepalgunj.
The Hackathon will feature various activities such as pre-selection and short-listing of potential innovators, orientation sessions, on-site pitching of innovative ideas, local design demonstrations, and a hackathon with mentorship session.
The program will run for a period of one month, and innovators from all over Nepal are encouraged to participate. Travel and other basic expenses will be arranged for those selected [Top 10] from all over the country to attend the program which will be held at NAST, Khumaltar in Lalitpur.
The hackathon jury will consist of technical innovators and experts from various fields of STI, innovation business management, and sanitation management.
The 10 best startups will receive $500 for the prototype development and the winners will receive as much as a $40,000 grant for developing and piloting the product/solution that they have proposed.
The products will be piloted in Bharatpur and Nepalgunj in the first stage. Innovators/innovative companies from all over Nepal can submit their ideas by visiting the web portal adbhackathon.org.
In passing we invite all technology startups and aspiring individuals to participate in the ADB Sanitation Hackathon and join hands to create new ideas and technical solutions for the sanitation workers of Nepal.
