Federated Intelligence Hackathon concludes at IIT Kanpur with focus on Health AI
Kanpur: National Health Authority CEO Dr Sunil Kumar Barnwal said India must build trusted and benchmarked Health AI models as the Federated Intelligence Hackathon concluded at IIT Kanpur.
Addressing the valedictory session, Dr Barnwal said the initiative marked a clear shift from experimentation to reliable healthcare AI. He said developers must test AI systems on diverse, population-scale datasets before deployment. He added that federated and consent-based models allow innovation to scale without centralising data.
The National Health Authority organised the Federated Intelligence Hackathon with ICMR–National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science and IIT Kanpur. The event ran from January 19 to 24 as a prelude to the India AI Impact Summit 2026. It focused on building secure, privacy-preserving Digital Public Goods for Health AI.
Dr Barnwal referred to AB PM-JAY and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to underline inclusiveness. He said Health AI models must reflect India’s demographic and regional diversity. Such alignment, he noted, ensures equitable healthcare delivery.
Federated Intelligence Hackathon sees strong participation nationwide
The inaugural session included addresses by Prof Sandeep Verma, Head of the Gangwal School of Medical Sciences and Technology, and Shri Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur. Ms Ritu Maheshwari, Secretary, Medical Health and Family Welfare and State Mission Director, ABDM–Uttar Pradesh, also spoke.
Dr R S Sharma, Distinguished Visiting Professor at IIT Kanpur and former NHA CEO, said Digital Public Infrastructure enables secure and citizen-centric health data use. He highlighted the role of interoperable Digital Public Goods in scaling healthcare systems.
Shri Vivek Raghavan, CEO and Co-founder of SarvamAI, spoke on AI-driven healthcare transformation. He said data quality, privacy, and security form the base of responsible AI adoption. He also stressed the need for indigenous and open-source AI models to strengthen local AI sovereignty.
ICMR–NIRDHDS led a separate session on its Health AI initiatives. Meanwhile, IIT Kanpur and the National Health Authority announced a joint benchmarking platform. The platform evaluates AI models while preserving data privacy and institutional control. All hackathon models underwent evaluation on this system.
The hackathon received 374 registrations, including 208 individual participants and 166 teams. Around 54% identified as AI researchers or innovators. Others included health-tech startups, healthcare providers, students, and data scientists.
Organisers declared winners in bone age prediction, cataract detection, and diabetic retinopathy screening. The winning teams presented their methodologies and received certificates. They also shared cash prizes worth Rs. 12 lakhs.
The National Health Authority said the initiative strengthened citizen-centric Health AI development under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
