THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026

The State-Level Hackathon 3.0 – Odiapreneur was inaugurated at the IIT Bhubaneswar campus on Wednesday, bringing together 192 students from 101 schools across Odisha to develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges.

The initiative, jointly organised by the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education (DHSE), Government of Odisha, UNICEF Odisha and IIT Bhubaneswar Research & Entrepreneurship Park, seeks to foster creativity, innovation, problem-solving skills and an entrepreneurial mindset among higher secondary students.

The programme was attended by DHSE Director Niyati Pattnaik, Joint Director Sasmita Mali, Deputy Director Ch. Vijaya Laxmi, UNICEF Odisha State Head Lalita Pattnaik, IIT Bhubaneswar Research & Entrepreneurship Park CEO Soobhankara Pati and Dean, Faculty Affairs, IIT Bhubaneswar, Prof Umaprasana Ojha.

The third edition of Odiapreneur witnessed an encouraging response from young innovators, receiving 969 ideas from students. Of these, 749 ideas were shortlisted for the district-level event, while 192 students representing 101 schools have made it to the state-level hackathon.

Around 100 mentors are supporting the participating students as they work on ideas aimed at addressing challenges in their communities through innovative, practical and technology-enabled solutions.

The state-level hackathon is designed to go beyond a competition and provide promising ideas with opportunities for continued mentoring, prototype development, incubation and technical support, organisers said.

Addressing the gathering, Niyati Pattnaik said providing young people with the right platform, mentorship and an opportunity to tackle real-world problems could help transform their ideas into meaningful solutions.

 “When young people are given a platform, mentorship and an opportunity to solve real problems, their ideas can become the starting point for meaningful change,” she said.

Odiapreneur seeks to create a pathway through which students can move from identifying problems in their communities to designing solutions and developing them into viable prototypes, thereby encouraging a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among Odisha's young learners.