Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday launched ‘Delhi Next – Code, Create and Change’, describing it as the country’s largest civic-tech innovation programme aimed at using technology-driven solutions to address the Capital’s civic and urban challenges.
Gupta said the initiative would bring together young innovators, start-ups, researchers and educational institutions to develop solutions for challenges such as waterlogging, traffic management, smart parking, air pollution, waste management, the electric vehicle ecosystem, digital governance and citizen grievance redressal.
Calling the initiative “more than just a hackathon”, the Chief Minister said the selected innovations would move beyond demonstrations and be implemented as pilot projects in government departments.
“Unlike conventional hackathons that end with prize distribution, the top 60 selected models under Delhi Next will be implemented as pilot projects with the support of the concerned departments. Successful solutions will then be integrated into the government system,” she said.
CM said the government aimed to make Delhi the country’s civic-tech capital, where governance is powered by technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, data and active citizen participation. She added that young people should be treated as partners in governance rather than merely participants in competitions.
The programme’s outreach campaign reached more than one crore young people across the country, while over 2.5 lakh participants registered. An expert committee evaluated more than 5,000 proposals before shortlisting 1,000 participants, with the top 60 teams making live presentations before the Chief Minister.
The government said the selected teams would receive continued support through departmental mentors, pilot implementation opportunities and a clear roadmap for integrating successful solutions into government functioning.
Gupta said the ideas would help build a “Viksit Delhi” by delivering more transparent, accountable and technology-enabled governance.
