Problem Statement

During these unprecedented times brought about by the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 affecting all nations across globe and everybody stuck at home, working remotely. It is getting evident that in the coming days businesses are going to become more reliant than ever on the digital platforms to connect and communicate. In many cases switching to digital alternatives will be the deciding factor in whether we are able to make it through the tough times ahead or not.

MeitY announces the challenge to develop a Video Conferencing Solution showing capabilities in terms of scalability, market reach and domestic value addition. The solution will get a contract to deploy their solution for use by Government of India, State Government entities for a period of 4 years.

The solution can be proposed keeping in view the below points but not only limited to them

Should support all video resolutions and audio quality, should work in low and high network scenarios

Should be low on usage of power/ processor

Should not have any external hardware dependency

Should work on any device

Should have chat option during conference, even the multi people conference

Should have sign-in and non-sign-in options to join a conference

Can be browser and/or app based interface

Should have encrypted network communication

Should have audio/ video recording feature

Should have screen/file sharing capabilities

Should allow audio to close captioning during chat (multilingual)

Should have capabilities to host multiple concurrent conferences having multiple participants in each conference

Scope of the Innovation Challenge for Development of Video Conferencing Solution

The challenge will be conducted in three stages: In Stage-1 (Ideation), and in Stage-2 (Prototype) and in Stage 3 (Solution Building).

The Innovation Challenge is open for participation in teams having experts from all domains of a software development life cycle. It would be in three (3)stages:

1. Ideation (Stage-1): Teams will have to propose their innovative and cutting edge ideas of their solution. Top 10 teams would be selected from this stage. Each team will receive a funding of INR 5 Lakh to build the prototype.

2. Prototype (Stage-2): Build the prototype of the solution. These shortlisted entries from Stage-1 will get a chance to present their prototypes to a distinguished Jury. Top 3 teams will be shortlisted for the Final Stage. Each team will receive a funding of INR 20 Lakh to build the solution.

3. Solution Building (Final Stage): The winner will get a fixed amount of INR 1 Crore along with certificate from the Hon’ble Minister of Electronics & IT towards deploying the solution for use by Government of India and State Governments for a year and further support @ Rs 10 lakhs per year towards Operations & Maintenance, for a period of 3 years after the first year of deployment subject to terms and condition of the final contract to be signed.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation will be done by a committee constituted by MeitY. The solution will primarily be evaluated in respect of the following:

1. Approach Towards Problem Solving: Product Idea, Degree of Innovation, Simplicity of Final Solution, Uniqueness & scalability of Idea, Novelty of Approach.

2. Business Use Case: Business Case, USP and Vision.

3. Solution Technical Feasibility: Product features, Scalability, Interoperability, enhancement & expansion, Underlying technology components & stack and futuristic orientation.

4. Product Roadmap: Potential Cost to Build Product, Go to Market Strategy, Time to Market.

5. Team Ability & Culture: Team Leader’s Effectiveness (i.e. Ability to guide, Ability to present idea), Ability to Market Product, Growth Potential of Organization.

6. Addressable Market: Natural Sales Appeal, Affordability, ROI, Sales Distribution Channel

Awards & Recognition

1. Recognition and certificate from MeitY for “innovative solution” for "the Innovation Challenge for Development of Video Conferencing Solution " for the top 10 entries selected from Stage-1. Each selected team will receive a funding of INR 5 Lakh to build their prototype.

2. The teams would present their prototypes to a distinguished Jury to select top three (3) entries. The best three entries of the Stage-2 each selected team will receive INR 20 Lakh to build their solution following the design principles and best practices.

3. The winning team with the best-judged solution will receive Rs INR 1 Crore in the first year and an additional support @ Rs 10 lakhs per year towards Operations & Maintenance, for a period of 3 years after the first year of deployment subject to terms and condition of the final contract to be signed.

ELIGIBILTY

Participation from across academia and industry, participating teams are not mandatorily required to be registered Indian Companies / startups to apply for the challenge. However, the 10 teams shortlisted at Ideation Stage will be required to register themselves as Indian Startups/Company, and submit the proof of having applied at stage of submission of Prototype. It will be expected that by the time of selection at the final stage, necessary registration will be completed to facilitate signing of the contract for deployment of the solution for use by the Government.

Thus the eligibility criteria is as below:

1. Participating teams must be an Indian company registered under Companies Act or comply with the definition of Start-up as per the latest notification of DIPP (Available at http://startupindia.gov.in). [Indian company: 51% or more shareholding is with Indian citizen or person of Indian origin].

2. If Participating Team is not yet registered, they are still allowed to participate, but are required to get registered if they get selected for the final submission.