Amazon to host young builders challenge for students between class 6 and 12 in India

Tech giant Amazon has announced a new cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) challenge for students in India. The initiative, held under Amazon Web Services banner, aims to help students learn principles in cloud computing and AI. It is called the AWS Young Builders Challenge. The company said that the initiative will help school students to develop an early understanding of the basics of cloud computing and AI.

The program is being organised in partnership with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) — which is part of the government think-tank Niti Aayog. The Ministry of Education – Innovation Cell (Govt. of India), and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are also involved. Code.org will provide learning content and project building tools for the program.

The program will require students to submit ideas on themes such as transportation, education, healthcare, agriculture, among others. It is open to all schools, and the challenge is open to students in classes between 6th and 12th.

Schools will have to register with AWS for the program and the company will provide learning resources on cloud computing and AI. Post the completion of the learning module, they will be required to build their projects. Each school will also need to submit its top two projects for further assessment. Entries from the top ten schools will then be presented in a live virtual ceremony on November 15.

The top ten schools will gain direct entry into the Smart India Hackathon Juniors Track, which is an event conducted by the Innovation cell of the Ministry of Education, scheduled for mid-2022. The top schools will also be able to access a virtual AI/ML lab for a period of one year.

The challenge opened yesterday and entries will be closed on November 5th.