The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced second edition of its global hackathon, “HARBINGER 2023 – Innovation for Transformation”
Theme: Inclusive Digital Services.
- This event was announced on February 14, 2023.
- The hackathon received 154 proposals submitted by teams from both India and 28 participating teams/entities from countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America(USA). The Hackathon ran in three phases.
- The hackathon is hosted on Application Programming Interface Exchange (APIX) platform. Participants can register for the hackathon and submit their proposals by clicking on the provided link (https://hackolosseum.apixplatform.com/h1/harbinger2023link)
| Sl. No. | Problem Statement | Results | Solution Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Innovative, easy-to-use, digital banking services for differently abled (Divyaang). | Winner | Ezetap Mobile Solutions Pvt Ltd (Now acquired by Razorpay), India | The solution, DrishtiPay, facilitates effortless Card/UPI payments for the visually challenged. With DrishtiPay, a tap of the card or NFC-enabled phone allows blind users to provide OTP securely for transacting instead of struggling to enter PIN. Solution integrates with UPI apps, to facilitate UPI payments for visually impaired. |
| Joint Runners-up | PoSMirror, India | The solution empowers visually impaired individuals to achieve self-sufficiency in transacting with PoS devices by harnessing the power of AI. The app utilises the phone’s camera to analyze randomised keypads on PoS machines and guides the user to enter their PIN on a braille enabled add-on screen. | ||
| SL Avatar, India | SL Avatar aims at seamlessly translating speech and text into sign language and vice versa, | |||
| 2 | RegTech solutions to facilitate more efficient compliance for Regulated Entities (REs) | Winner | WeavAir, Singapore | WeavAir solution provides efficient data collection and analytics to facilitate compliance by REs, facilitating financial institutions improve their regulatory reporting and risk management. |
| Runner-up | Munafa, India | MUNAFA (Mutilated Notes Adjudication For All) is an application which on a click of a photo, identifies various pieces of a mutilated note along with their respective sizes, and compares the same with the Note Refund Rules to give user exchangeable value of the note. | ||
| 3 | Exploring use cases/solutions for Central Bank Digital Currency -Retail (CBDC-R) transactions, including transactions in offline mode | Winner | Dygnify Ventures Private Limited, India | It is a mobile application on encrypted SMS rails for CBDC-Retail transactions without needing internet. |
| Runner-up | Crunchfish Digital Cash AB (Sweden) + IDFC First Bank (India) | Crunchfish along with IDFC First Bank showcased ”Digital Cash Telecom” as an easily scalable, resilient and secure offline payment product. | ||
| 4 | Increasing Transactions Per Second (TPS)/ throughput and scalability of blockchains.* | Winner | Fortis Net Ltd., UK | Solution is a token-based architecture based on two-phase commit protocol. It also uses the Raft consensus algorithm and Corporate Digital Identity to support linear scalability. |
| *No runner-up was selected under this problem statement | ||||
Abbreviations: NFC – Near Field Communication , OTP – One-Time Password , PIN – Personal Identification Number , UPI – Unified Payments Interface , POS – Point of Sale , AI – Artificial intelligence , KYC – Know Your Customer, ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance.
Prizes in each category-
- Winner: ₹40 lakh
- Runner-up: ₹20 lakh
These innovative solutions enhance accessibility for differently-abled individuals, streamline regulatory compliance, introduce new CBDC Retail applications, and improve blockchain scalability.
About Harbinger:
RBI initiated its inaugural global hackathon, titled “HARBINGER 2021 – Innovation for Transformation,” with the theme ‘Smarter Digital Payments’ in 2021.
Eligibility:
- Hackathon is open to all entities, teams, or individuals who are at least 18 years old and can enter into contractual agreements.
- The proposed product or solution should showcase an element of innovation or a novel application of technology that benefits the greater good.
Note: A hackathon is a time-bound event where individuals or teams collaborate to rapidly develop software or hardware projects, often focusing on innovation and problem-solving within a specific theme or challenge. These events foster creativity and skill development, often with prizes or awards for outstanding solutions.
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Established: 1 April 1935
Governor: Shaktikanta Das
Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra
