10 schools from Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal emerge as winners, showcasing creative concepts to tackle real-world problems using cloud computing and AI.

December 2021 – Over the next few years, advanced cloud computing and data skills will become more important than ever for current digitally skilled workers and future workers according to a report prepared by strategy and economics consulting firm AlphaBeta, commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The report, which focuses on six Asia Pacific (APAC) countries including India, also estimates that the demand for these skills is likely to triple by 2025.

This was one of the drivers for the AWS Young Builders Challenge 2021, an initiative aimed at promoting and fostering a scientific temper, computational and design thinking, and coding skills among school students. Launched with support from the Ministry of Education – Innovation Cell (Govt. of India); Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog; Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE); and Code.org, the initiative aims to introduce young minds to the basics of disruptive technologies such as cloud computing, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), and inspire them to create a positive impact in India using these technologies.

Since its launch in October 2021, the AWS Young Builders Challenge saw an average of 100 new schools signing up every day during the registration period, indicating the keen interest school students have to learn about new technology and experiment with it for ideation. The enthusiastic participation saw 2938 schools across 28 states and six union territories across India submitting a total of 5952 projects.

The winning ideas

10 schools from the top 100 in India were invited to present their ideas at the concluding virtual showcase event in November 2021 to an external jury comprising educators. The top 10 schools were Aditya Vidyashram Residential School, Delhi; Amity International School, Noida, Uttar Pradesh; Army Public School, Kolkata, West Bengal; Bal Bharati Public School, Dwaraka, Delhi; BCM Arya Model Sr. Secondary School, Punjab; Delhi Public School, Sector-45, Gurugram, Haryana; HAL Public School, Karnataka; Kendriya Vidyalaya, Vijayanarayanam, Tamil Nadu; Salwan Public School, Delhi; and The Amaatra Academy, Karnataka. Seven of these schools are Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), an initiative by the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.

Individual students from these top 10 schools showcased various innovative ideas based on cloud computing and AI, designed to address real issues in today’s world, such as an app for water conservation through smart irrigation techniques, an AI-enabled application for smart farming, an intelligent bus lane system, a smart energy application, and a ‘diagnoser robot’ that identifies health conditions. The participants were equipped with a rich selection of learning modules from Atal Innovation Mission and AWS, and tutorials from Code.org to understand the fundamentals of cloud computing and AI and build their ideas.

Sunil PP, Lead – Education, Space and Non-Profits, AWS India and South Asia, Amazon Internet Services Private Limited said, “Cloud computing is at the heart of digital transformation and innovation, and at AWS, we believe machine learning will be the most transformative technology of our generation. An AWS study estimates that the digital skills requirement in India will increase nine-fold by 2025, making digital skills development an imperative. With the AWS Young Builders Challenge, we wanted to familiarise the school-going generation with computer science, cloud computing and AI, so they can absorb this experience, and be inspired to become future builders and innovators.”

The showcase event of the AWS Young Builders Challenge can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl-nkKaEC18