By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 17, 2025: THE Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced the 5G Innovation Hackathon 2025, a six-month initiative aimed at accelerating the development of innovative 5G-powered solutions to address societal and industrial challenges. Open to students, startups, and professionals, the programme provides mentorship, funding, and access to over 100 5G Use Case Labs, enabling participants to transform visionary ideas into scalable technologies.

The hackathon invites proposals focused on key 5G applications such as AI-driven network maintenance, IoT-enabled solutions, 5G broadcasting, smart health, agriculture, industrial automation, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), D2M, V2X, and quantum communication. Participants are encouraged to leverage 5G features like network slicing, Quality of Service (QoS), and call-flow scenarios to address real-world problems. The hackathon offers an array of support mechanisms to help participants take their innovations to the next level. Participants will get assistance in IPR filing for commercialising their IP assets.   

Programme Structure & Timeline

The hackathon will unfold in several stages, each carefully designed to nurture and develop ideas from proposal submission to final evaluation. The first stage, Proposal Submission, invites participants to submit their comprehensive ideas, outlining their problem statement, proposed solution, and expected impact. Each institution will have the opportunity to recommend up to five proposals for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) screening, and regional committees will select the best entries for further evaluation.

Once proposals are shortlisted, the Regional Shortlisting stage will see selected teams (150–200 proposals) receive guidance to enhance their ideas. The top 25–50 teams will progress to the Pragati Phase, where they will be provided with a Rs 1,00,000 each seed fund to develop their prototypes over a three-month period (June 15 - September 15, 2025). During this phase, participants will benefit from mentorship, access to 5G Use Case Labs, and testing infrastructure to refine their ideas. In case any of the solution can be converted to an IPR, necessary support for IPR filing will be extended.

The final stage, Evaluation and Showcase, will take place in late September 2025, where teams will present their prototypes to a Technical Expert Evaluation Committee (TEEC),  comprising 5-7 experts from the government, Academia and Industry. The evaluation will be based on four key criteria: Technical Execution (40%), Scalability & Market Readiness (40%), Societal & Industrial Impact (10%), and Novelty (10%).

Winners will be announced in October 2025, with the top teams showcasing their innovations at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025, one of the most prestigious tech events in the country.

Awards & Recognition

Winners will receive significant rewards, including Rs 5,00,000 for the 1st place, Rs 3,00,000 for the runner-up, and Rs 1,50,000 for the 2nd runner-up. Also, special mentions will be given for Best Idea and Most Innovative Prototype, each receiving Rs 50,000. 10 labs will also be given Certificates of Appreciation for Best 5G Use case and one Certificate for Best idea from Emerging Institute.

The programme, supported by a Rs 1.5 crore budget, covers seed funding, IPR assistance, mentorship, and operational costs. It aims at developing over 50 scalable 5G prototypes, generate 25+ patents, strengthen academia-industry-government collaboration, and support startup creation. Key dates include submission of proposals from 15 March-15 April 2025, announcement of final winners on 01 October 2025, and a rigorous timeline ensuring milestones are met through bi-weekly progress reports and a centralised tracking dashboard.

The 5G Innovation Hackathon 2025 is designed to harness the transformative potential of 5G technology by fostering collaboration and innovation. By bridging lab research and market-ready solutions, the hackathon aligns with India's vision to lead in 5G innovation.