ONDC Hosts a Hackathon to Promote E-Commerce Adoption in Agri Sector

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a Government of India initiative aimed at democratizing the country's current e-commerce ecosystem, has announced the launch of a three-day "Grand Hackathon" which began yesterday July 1, 2022.

The event, which is co-organized by NABARD, is divided into two categories: Agri Grant Challenge and Agri Innovation Hackathon. It will highlight innovations that will aid in the adoption of e-commerce in the agricultural sector. The event is expected to draw 600 people who will work on hackathon challenges and technical requirements in order to solve them for large-scale future applications.

"This is the first of many programs that ONDC will conduct with various entities in the coming months. We will collaborate with SIDBI and state SMEs to encourage SMEs to benefit from this new paradigm. We expect startups and participants to develop smart solutions that will assist farmers and farm producers in digitizing their product catalogs, publishing them on the ONDC protocol, and allowing them to track orders and payments, among other things," said T.Koshy, CEO of ONDC.

According to Koshy, the ONDC Protocol is complete, and 150 entities are in various stages of integration with ONDC. On the plan to open ONDC to customers, he stated that pilots are currently underway in six cities, including Delhi, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Shillong, Lucknow, and Bhopal.

Customers in these cities can access the network only by invitation, and ONDC will likely begin adding more customers within the next month.

The event will also include Rs 1.2 crore in rewards and financial incentives for the event's winning participants. ONDC and NABARD will intervene to help build on the solutions developed during the hackathon. It is also planned as a phase II initiative for rural technology.

"At this early stage, no other sector has the scale and breadth of impact that agriculture does, and it will be an important addition to our network. India is a global agricultural powerhouse, and closing the gap between agriculture and e-commerce will create a plethora of opportunities for all stakeholders," Koshy added. "NABARD is excited to collaborate for this grand event to activate eCommerce in agriculture space through ONDC," said a NABARD spokesperson.