Flipkart launches 'Gridlock Hackathon' to solve Bangalore's traffic woes

The government may have failed to solve Bangalore's traffic woes but looks like, India's largest e-commerce portal-Flipkart has taken the task on its hands.

Flipkart has announced a hackathon to crowdsource “innovative”,  “implementable” solutions from the tech community and concerned citizens, that could help ease the city’s perennial traffic problem. The hackathon, which has been termed as Gridlock Hackathon, kick-starts the ‘Month of Innovation’ at Flipkart, which is a part of the company’s 10-year anniversary celebrations.

The contest will run from June 7, 2017, until June 21,  2017, and is open for technology-centric solutions, as well as those that partially leverage technology through out-of-the-box thinking, the company said in a press release.

“Gridlock Hackathon is an important part of our 10th-anniversary celebrations and we want to engage with tech folks as well as citizens in trying to collectively find some innovative solutions to Bangalore's traffic woes. The idea is to give back in some way to the city we all love, and ensure it retains the vibrant ecosystem that has been a major catalyst in the growth story of Flipkart and so many other companies,” said Flipkart CTO and Head of Engineering Ravi Garikipati.

The hackathon would initially run online and participants can submit tech or partially-tech solutions for macro problems like Bangalore’s overall traffic, or traffic snarls in specific areas like Silk Board junction and KR Puram, Flipkart said.

All entries will be judged on parameters like impact,  feasibility, scalability and sustainability and completeness,  it said, adding, the teams or individuals with the best entries will get a chance to present their solutions to a  panel of esteemed jury, who will pick the best three ideas.