If you’ve lived in Bengaluru in the last few years, you’ve probably imagined abandoning your vehicle in the middle of gridlock and just walking to work instead. You’ve probably even fantasised about selling your three-bedroom house and just moving into your office.
Commuting has grown into a nightmare in India’s Silicon Valley with average vehicular speed dwindling down to as low as 4km per hour. The government’s standard go-to solutions of building more flyovers and widening roads – often by chopping precious avenue trees – have done little to fix the problem.
But now, Bengalureans (and the rest of the country) finally have a chance to come up with the solutions that could change it all, and fix the city’s massive traffic mess. As part of its flagship startup policy, the Karnataka government is organising the ‘Grand Challenge Call 5 and Call 6’ to crowdsource the best solutions to Bengaluru’s eternal woes.
‘Grand Challenge Call 5’ will focus on technology innovations for last-mile connectivity, utilising real-time information on public transport, integrating different modes of transport and finding innovative parking solutions.
"The future of your commute is unlikely to lie in any one big invention. Instead, it will grow out of many new innovations which can be used alongside existing technologies. They will work within the context of increasingly smart transport networks that are able to respond quickly and efficiently to our ever-changing needs. ‘Grand Challenge Call 5’ is an attempt to create a big picture from small solutions,” Priyank Kharge Karnataka’s IT Minister said in a news release on the Grand Challenges.
Besides Bengaluru’s traffic woes, the government is also seeking solutions for the state’s growing water problems in ‘Grand Challenge Call 6’. As the news release states, “The state government launched the ‘Call 6’ to generate and utilise real-time data on quality and quantity of water being utilised at individual level including water use in agriculture for predicting a potential water crisis.”
Both the Grand Challenges are open to anyone from any discipline in India – from individual citizens to expert researchers to universities, laboratories, start-up companies and NGOs. Those interested can apply by logging onto www.call5.impact-karnataka.org before October 15.
In the first phase, five innovators will be selected to test out their solutions for a period of six months, with funding up to Rs 10 lakh. In the second phase one innovator will be given further funding of up to Rs 50 lakh for a period of 12 months to scale up their solution.
