India’s best young minds will come together to find an algorithm that can cut risk on forex positions

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, along with Bitgrit Japan, an online data scientists community is all set to conduct data science contests at the upcoming IIT Tech Meet.
  
• It aims to loop in students from the 23 IITs to “find feasible solutions to real-life industry problems.”
  
• As per LinkedIn, it is estimated to have less than 10% of data scientists available globally.

Over 80 students are set to come together and brainstorm at a ‘datathon’ by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and bitgrit Japan — an online data scientists community. This will be a part of the eighth edition of its annual technical competition — Inter IIT Tech Meet.

“This year, IIT Roorkee has partnered with several government entities and data science platforms including Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), bitgrit Japan, Bosch, Payatu and Neenopal,” the institute said in a statement.

The three-day long event will commence on December 20 and aims to loop in students from all 23 IITs to “find feasible solutions to real-life industry problems”. The contest will focus on emerging technologies like data science, robotics, information security and mobility among others.

The contest which will focus on the themes — empathy, innovation and impact. “It should symbolise a united stand that envisions a progressive India and spearheads the resolution of pressing problems enveloping the nation,” it added.

Overall, nearly 800 students are participating in the Inter IIT Tech Meet.

‘Datathon’ — and why?

India is short of data scientists, as the country and its systems embrace digitisation. As per LinkedIn, it is estimated to have less than 10% of data scientists available globally. For companies, these hackathon and contests are platform to access suitable candidates.

bitgrit Data Science Contest is looking to bring together the best data scientists in India at an institutional level. The 48-hour datathon will focus on developing an algorithm for the healthcare industry -- to help emergency patients.

“The data science contest in the tech meet is an excellent chance for the students to get hands-on experience with real data. We are hopeful that the collaboration with bitgrit will open up opportunities for all participants as they gain real-time experience,” Uday Singhal, the overall coordinator of the tech meet said.

The winning participants of the data science contest will get recognition and prize money of $10,000( over ₹7 lakhs).

The first round of the contest concluded on December 8 — with 19 of the total 65 participating teams heading to the next round. The agenda was to derive an algorithm that can help stabilize risk in foreign exchange. Over 16,000 solutions have been submitted so far — which will be used in exchange position transaction and management system.

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