Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday launched 'Delhi Next – Code, Create and Change', describing it as the country’s largest civic-tech innovation programme. The initiative aims to harness technology-driven solutions for the Capital’s pressing civic and urban challenges.
Programme Scope and Objectives
Gupta stated that the initiative will bring together young innovators, start-ups, researchers, and educational institutions. The focus areas include waterlogging, traffic management, smart parking, air pollution, waste management, the electric vehicle ecosystem, digital governance, and citizen grievance redressal.
Calling the initiative “more than just a hackathon”, the Chief Minister emphasised that selected innovations will move beyond demonstrations and be implemented as pilot projects in government departments. “Unlike conventional hackathons that end with prize distribution, the top 60 selected models under Delhi Next will be implemented as pilot projects with the support of the concerned departments. Successful solutions will then be integrated into the government system,” she said.
Massive Outreach and Participation
The programme’s outreach campaign reached more than one crore young people across the country, while over 2.5 lakh participants registered. An expert committee evaluated more than 5,000 proposals, shortlisting 1,000 participants, with the top 60 teams making live presentations before the Chief Minister.
Gupta added that the government aims to make Delhi the country’s civic-tech capital, where governance is powered by technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, data, and active citizen participation. She stressed that young people should be treated as partners in governance rather than merely participants in competitions.
Support for Selected Teams
The government said that the selected teams will receive continued support through departmental mentors, pilot implementation opportunities, and a clear roadmap for integrating successful solutions into government functioning. Gupta said the ideas would help build a “Viksit Delhi” by delivering more transparent, accountable, and technology-enabled governance.
