Clear Skies Challenge 2025

INNOVATE, SOLVE, BREATHE

A National Ideathon & Hackathon for Air Pollution Mitigation

Results are announced please check you registered emails

Air pollution poses a significant threat to human health, biodiversity, and climate stability. It demands urgent action and innovative solutions to monitor, predict, and mitigate its impacts. The "Clear Skies Challenge" invites innovators, developers, and problem-solvers to explore cutting-edge technologies and geospatial data to address these pressing issues. This is a national-level Ideathon and Hackathon focused on air pollution mitigation through AI-powered geospatial solutions. The program is part of Operation Dronagiri (initiated by DST’s Geospatial Innovation Council), with IIT Tirupati Navavishkar I-Hub Foundation (IITTNiF) as the nodal agency. The initiative is supported by IISc Bangalore’s Centre for Public Good (data partner), Google (industry partner), A-PAG (Knowledge partner) & TiE Delhi-NCR(Ecosystem partner).

Operation Dronagiri is a strategic initiative under the National Geospatial Policy (NGP) introduced by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) in December 2022. The NGP aims to make India a global leader in geospatial technology by fostering innovation, liberalizing access to geospatial data, and driving economic and social development through the effective use of this technology. Operation Dronagiri, the first phase of the NGP implementation, is designed to demonstrate the tangible benefits of geospatial technology across three key sectors: Agriculture, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Livelihoods & Skilling.
Operation Dronagiri is rolling out between in six districts in five selected states: Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Sonipat and Gurugram in Haryana, Kamrup in Assam, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh and Washim* TBC in Maharashtra . The initiative is focusing on district-level implementation to ensure localized solutions and direct impact. Each district will serve as a pilot for deploying geospatial solutions to address sector-specific challenges.
For More details: https://dronagiribharat.com/

Why This Theme?

Impact of Air Pollution:
Air pollution is responsible for millions of premature deaths annually, contributing to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular problems, and even cognitive impairments. Beyond health, it affects ecosystems, reducing agricultural productivity and accelerating climate change.
Power of Geospatial Data:
As part of Operation Dronagiri, GDPDC has launched the Geospatial Data-sharing Interface (GDI) for five districts & Gurugram city. GDI provides over 500 data-sets & insights by integrating spatial and temporal data from satellite imagery, ground-based sensors, and other government sources (e.g. meteorological information). At the same time, Google has launched AirView+ that leverages AI to provide hyper-local air pollution data in 150 cities, By leveraging the combined power of GDI data, AirView+, and ArcGIS participants can unlock new ways to analyze air pollution patterns and identify actionable solutions in a time-bound manner.
Need for Collaborative Solutions:
Addressing air pollution requires collaboration across disciplines—data science, environmental engineering, urban planning, and public policy. This hackathon serves as a platform for interdisciplinary teams to develop advanced, yet practical and deployable, solutions for combating air pollution, focusing on real-world implementation and impact. The focus would be on three cities- Gurugram, Varanasi & Vizianagaram.

Objectives of the Theme

Mitigate:
- Design solutions for mitigating air pollution at the source, such as traffic emissions or industrial pollutants.
- Also, solutions that mitigate the impact of air pollution on specific sectors- Healthcare, Financial services (incl. insurance), Travel & Tourism, Infrastructure.
- Create urban planning tools to implement green infrastructure and low-emission zones.
Empower Communities:
- Build platforms for citizen science, empowering individuals to monitor and act on air quality.
- Develop tools to increase awareness and drive behavioral change for reducing pollution.

Prizes

First Prize : ₹2,00,000
Second Prize : ₹1,50,000
Third Prize : ₹1,00,000
Award Category: Best Use of ArcGIS, Prize: One-year ArcGIS Personal Use license for each team member.
Special Awards for Innovation and best team

Expected Outcomes

Practical Applications: Solutions that citizens, cities, governments, and industries can adopt to mitigate the impact of air pollution.
Enhanced Decision-Making: Tools for policymakers to assess and implement effective air quality measures.
Community Awareness: User-friendly platforms to engage and educate the public on air pollution and its effects.
Scalable Innovations: Ideas that can be adapted for use across diverse geographic and socioeconomic contexts.

The outcomes of the Hackathon MUST ensure that actual solutions and prototypes can be deployed on-ground no later than October 1, 2025.

Target Audience for the Hackathon

Students:
- Undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. students from diverse fields such as:
  - Environmental Science
  - Computer Science and Engineering
  - Data Science and AI
  - Urban Planning and Design
  - Environmental health
  - Public health
  - Environmental economics
Researchers:
- Academic researchers working in:
  - Air Quality and Climate Change
  - Atmospheric Science
  - Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  - Environmental Modeling
Startups and Innovators:
- Innovators focusing on:
  - Clean-tech and green-tech solutions
  - Smart city technologies
  - IoT, AI/ML, and GIS-based products

Why Participate?

National Recognition & Cash Prizes
Exclusive Access to Google’s Geospatial & Air Quality Data
Opportunity to Deploy Real-World Solutions
Exclusive access to Google's AirView+ data & GDI’s geospatial data for three cities - https://blog.google/intl/en-in/company-news/using-googles-ai-and-local-ecosystem-to-generate-actionable-air-quality-insights-in-india-with-air-view/
Selected idea owners and startups will get support and mentoring from industry experts to take their idea to the next level with MVP and PoCs that can launch their startup
USD 500 Google Cloud Credits for the top 50 teams (valid for 5 months after redemption)
Interactive Google organized AI workshops for group learning
one-on-one mentoring for the top 15 teams from Google and Industry experts
Access to ArcGIS Online up to 50 teams
30+ curated data layers from the ArcGIS Living Atlas for analysis and modelling
Webinar and mentorship sessions with registered and shortlisted teams on ArcGIS