Modernising the national statistical ecosystem through the adoption of emerging technologies and collaboration with academia, industry and start-ups has been one of the priority areas of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). As an organisation committed to building a robust and future-ready statistical system, MoSPI has been fostering an innovation ecosystem around frontier technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to enable intelligent analytics at scale.

The National Statistics Office (NSO), under MoSPI, in collaboration with the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education, has organised the national-level hackathon, “STATATHON – A Data Journey for Viksit Bharat”, with the 36-hour Grand Finale scheduled to be held on 17-18 June 2026 at the campus of Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (MRIIRS), Faridabad. It is third in the series of Hackathons organised by NSO, India.

For STATATHON, the following five problem statements have been identified in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and modern digital technologies with direct relevance to the official statistical system:

I. AI-Powered Smart Survey Tool for Survey Data Collection

To enhance the efficiency, accuracy and quality of survey data collection through intelligent questionnaire administration, real-time validation, automated monitoring and multilingual capabilities.

II. Application for Automated Data Preparation, Estimation and Report Writing

To reduce the time and effort involved in statistical processing of survey data while enabling faster generation of reliable estimates and analytical reports.

III. Evaluation and Enhancement of Data Encryption/Anonymisation Adopted for NSS Unit-Level Data and Development of an Encryption/Anonymisation Tool

To strengthen data privacy, confidentiality and secure dissemination while maximising the research utility of unit-level data.

IV. Creating an API Gateway to Run SQL Queries on Survey Datasets and Retrieve Results in User-Friendly Formats such as JSON

To facilitate customised access to official statistics, promote interoperability and support evidence-based decision-making.

V. AI-Enabled Semantic Search for the National Classification of Occupations (NCO)

To enhance the discoverability and usability of occupational classifications through natural language-based search.

The hackathon has generated tremendous enthusiasm among students and start-ups across the country, receiving over 5,000 submissions from innovators representing leading educational institutions and emerging enterprises.

In the first phase of evaluation, 50 teams; ten teams for each problem statement were shortlisted and mentored by domain & technical experts to help them develop viable and practical solutions. Subsequently, based on a rigorous evaluation process involving experts from government and industry, 25 finalist teams, comprising five teams for each problem statement, have been selected to participate in the 36-hour Grand Finale. Of the 25 finalist teams, 21 teams represent academic institutions and four are start-ups.

During the Grand Finale, participants will work intensively under the guidance of mentors and experts from NSO, academia and industry to develop innovative, scalable and impactful solutions. The hackathon will culminate on 18 June 2026 with presentations by the finalist teams and the announcement of winners.

Through STATATHON, NSO aims to foster innovation, strengthen collaboration among government, academia and industry, and harness the power of emerging technologies to further strengthen India's official statistical system in support of the vision of Viksit Bharat.

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Samrat 

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