Christopher Isaac ( )
As the Government of Rajasthan doubles down on its push to digitise governance and civic services by empowering its youth with technology and entrepreneurship, the state’s Department of Information Technology and Communication is marking Rajasthan IT Day with a series of events over three days from March 19-21, 2023 at Commerce College, Rajasthan College, and Jawahar Kala Kendra, JLN Marg, Jaipur.
The event brings together youth, startups, investors, enterprises, academia, industry bodies and experts, celebrities, and other startup ecosystem enablers from across the country on one platform to network and form partnerships that also benefit the people of Rajasthan.
To engage better with students, founders, and budding entrepreneurs, a plethora of events are being organised across the three-day celebration. These include:
1. Carnival and run: The first day of the celebrations kicks off with a carnival and run to raise awareness about the expanding IT sector in Rajasthan. The run begins at Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) and ends at University Commerce College, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg.
March 19, 2023, 6:00 PM onwards (Registration 4:00 PM)
2. IT Day conferences: These include knowledge sessions featuring business leaders, founders, and other pioneering individuals across industries. These sessions — which include power talks, panel discussions, fireside chats, and more with speakers such as Prateek Maheshwari, Co-founder, Physics Wallah; Ashneer Grover, Co-founder, BharatPe; Anubhav Dubey, Founder, Chai Sutta Bar; and Amit Sharma, YouTuber and Content Creator — will help identify where the startup and technology ecosystems in Rajasthan can improve and create a platform for discussion between various stakeholders.
March 20-21, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
3. Hackathons powered by PW Skills: Two hackathons — one offline and one online — are being organised that will allow coders, developers, and designers showcase their coding and problem solving skills.
(Offline) 10:00 PM, March 19 – 10:00 AM, March 21
(Online) 11:00 AM March 19 – 11:00 AM, March 20
4. iStart Career Hackathon: A platform for students, professionals, and industry experts to partake in career guidance and mentorship sessions, and helps raise awareness among students about appropriate career choices available to them.
March 20
5. Mega Job Fair: Seeing participation from over 400 companies from industries such as information technology, consulting, automobiles, call centres, finance, manufacturing, and more, the Job Fair will help fresh graduates and job-seekers find career paths of their choice, with potentially thousands of jobs up for grabs.
March 20-21, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Registration 7.00 AM to 6.00 PM)
6. Startup expo and marketplace: The IT Day celebrations will also host pavilions for startups, MSMEs, and businesses to showcase their solutions and products. Over 100 iStart recognised startups, startups representing various universities, and Atal Tinkering Labs are expected to exhibit their solutions, while the marketplace will see more than 50 startups and businesses sell their products.
March 20-21, 2023
7. Investor pitches/funding announcements:. Investor pitching sessions will be organised with partner angel investors and venture capital firms such as LetsVenture, (funding up to Rs 6.5 crore), RealTime Angel Fund (funding to top 25 startups up to Rs 2 crore), and the Challenge for Change program for sports technology innovation in association with Dream Sports.
8. iStart Youth Film Festival: The festival will showcase international feature films by established, award-winning directors as well as short films from up and coming groundbreaking Indian filmmakers across genres such as drama, documentary features, short films, and episodic content. Filmmaker conversations and panel discussions will also be hosted, with directors such as Kabir Khan.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is also expected to address the gathering at the conference on March 21.
For further details about the Rajasthan IT Day events and to register for them,