FAQ's

Toycathon 2021 FAQs

Que: What is Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Toycathon 2021 is an inter-ministerial initiative organized by Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell with support from All India Council for Technical Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of MSME, Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

India, despite being a home of many globally popular games like Chess, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, is not among leading developers and manufacturers of toys. This toy hackathon aims to initiate the idea generation for developing toys with a focus on Indian market, ethos and safety standards.

Que: Who can Participate in Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Toycathon 2021 is a unique opportunity for Students, Teachers, Start-ups, Industries and Toy experts/professionals in India to submit their innovative toys/games concepts.

Que: Is there any Prize Money for the winners of Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Yes, the participants could win prizes worth Rs. 50 lakhs. 

Que: What is the objective of Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Under the ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ initiated by our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi, Toycathon-2021 is conceived to challenge India’s innovative minds to conceptualize novel Toy and Games based on Bharatiya civilization, history, culture, mythology, ethos and aspirations of today’s generation. The purpose is to make India Atmanirbhar in Toy Manufacturing and Digital game market.

The broad objectives are as below-

• To conceptualize innovative toys which are rooted in Bharatiya values, cultural ethos, aspiration and inspiration. Developing toys which could connect the user with the ambitions and legacy of national institutes such as ISRO, DRDO, DAE, IITs, IISc, IISERs and national pride like Shivaji Maharaj, Sardar Patel, Jhansi Laxmibai, and ancient and modern scientists like Kanad & Kalam. 

•  To design toys innovatively and manufacture them using local materials which are environment friendly, safe, imbibe spirit of inquiry, critical thinking, life skill learning, pedagogy and of high quality, yet reasonable in price. 

• Boost Indian toy industry to reach the point where instead of imports of toys, India shall not only become Atma Nirbhar and Indian market is taken care of but also start exporting the toys, creating jobs and earning foreign exchange. 

• To create vibrant impact of Make in India products in Toys segment to increase market share of the industry.

Que: What are different categories under which a team can participate?

Ans: Under Toycathon 2021 a team can participate through following 3 tracks:

1. Track 1: Junior Level Participants, primarily SCHOOL STUDENTS. They will mainly focus on designing toys for kids of age group 0-3 years and 4-10 years.  School teachers can participate as mentors

1. Track 2: Senior level participants; students and faculty from Higher education institutions. This group will focus on developing concepts for 0-3 years, 4-10 and 11 years and above. Primarily focus will be on Electronics, Sensors, Mechatronics, and toys based on AI and ML approaches, AR-VR-XR and Robotics. Faculties can join in as mentors

1. Track 3: Startup-Professional Level that incudes overall innovation and development of prototypes that enables toy industry to boost up the production and quality toys in the Indian market. 

Que: Toycathon 2021 be conducted in Online or Offline mode?

Ans: Toycathon 2021 will be conducted in both online and offline mode.  The submissions & evaluations of entries across all tracks will be online. The selected participants will participate in Toycathon 2021 Grand finale in offline mode at 50 nodal centers/ATLs designated for the purpose by Ministry of Education Innovation Cell.

Phase-1: Online Mode

• Announcing Problem statements and receiving entries in all 3 tracks 
• Scrutiny of Entries and shortlisting of ideas for the Grand Finale
• Announcement of Shortlisted Ideas
• Mentoring of teams shortlisted for the Grand Finale. 

Phase-2: Grand Finale (offline Mode)

Only shortlisted ideas/teams in Phase-1 will be eligible for the 3-day Grand Finale organized at different workshops across the country.

Que: What is the operational model of Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Considering the scale of ideas required to positively influence the toy industry sector, Grand Finale will be organized in Hub-Spoke format.

• Nodal Centres/Primary Hub: These 50 centres are high-end workshops capable of rapid prototyping in prestigious Higher Education Institutions or Research Institutions shortlisted by MIC-AICTE in different cities across the country. The Nodal centres will primarily act as Hubs and will be connected to Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in the same or nearby adjacent city. The Nodal centres are responsible for ensuring that Grand Finale participants at their centres and associated ATL Tinkering Labs get all the required support during the Grand Finale. Nodal centres will primarily host teams selected teams.

• National Design schools: Premier Architecture and design schools of India will be in sync in order to make event more result oriented.

• ATL’s (Spoke): Atal Tinkering Labs, an initiative of NITI Aayog has good facilities for basic prototyping and can work effectively as Spokes for Toy Hackathon Grand Finale. Each Nodal Centre will have 4-6 ATLs as Spokes and they shall work under the guidance of Nodal centre to ensure the success of this initiative. This process will also help ATL develop connects with HEIs and further train their faculty for better handling of ideas and innovations coming from school students. ATL will host teams selected primary from Track-1 (school student teams). 

• Centralized Control Room:  In order to monitor the entire initiative for ensuring its success, a Centralized Control room is established at MIC-AICTE Office. This centralized control room will engage with all the stake holders during all the phases of this Hackathon. 

Themes

Themes for the toy hackathon could be: 

Que: What are the important dates for Toycathon 2021?

Que: Is it compulsory for an individual to register as a team to participate in Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Yes, it is compulsory to form a team to participate in Toycathon 2021. A team should  
    comprise of minimum 3 and maximum 5 team members along with 2 mentors (optional). A single entry cannot participate in this hackathon.

Que: What to expect after Toycathon 2021?

Ans: Winners of Toycathon 2021 will get further assistance from various ministries and organizations to take forward their innovation to a commercial viable platform/startup/venture.