Indian Web Browser Development Challenge by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) [Total Prize of Rs. 3.4 Cr.]: Submit by July 1, 2024!

Submissions are invited for the Indian Web Browser Development Challenge by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing!

About C-DAC

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier R&D organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associated areas. Different areas of C-DAC had originated at different times, many of which came out as a result of the identification of opportunities.

About the Challenge

‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ a key initiative of the Government of India envisages the design, development, and manufacture of substantial sub-assemblies in India. 

In line with this objective, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, is sponsoring this Open Challenge Competition in order to encourage the design, and development of an Indian Web Browser for major devices and platforms with required security features, plugin interfaces, supporting latest technologies based on industry standards, while catering to indigenous requirements.

The developed Indian Web Browser is required to have their own trust-stores, pre-loaded with CCA India Root Certificate, which is a self-signed certificate and is the top-most (root) certificate of the tree, that serves as a trust anchor.

Desired Features

• Web Browser for all devices and platforms.
• Compliance with W3C standards.
• Should have own trust store with inbuilt CCA India root certificate.
• Built-in support for Accessibility.
• Seamless support for all official Indian languages.
• Ability to digitally sign documents in the browser using a crypto token.
• Support for Web3.
• Parental Control-Web Filter, Child-friendly browsing.

Total Prize

Rs. 3,41,00,000.

Stages

Ideation

• 18 prizes of Rs. 2 lakhs each.
• Submission deadline: September 22, 2023.

Prototype

• 8 prizes of Rs. 10 lakhs each.
• Submission deadline: January 4, 2024.

Productisation

• 3 prizes: Winner: Rs. 1 crore, 1st runner-up: Rs. 75 lakhs, 2nd runner-up: Rs. 50 lakhs.
• Submission deadline: July 1, 2024.

Eligibility Criteria

Indian Start-ups, MSME’s, Companies, LLPs & Individuals:

• The Indian Tech Start-ups, MSMEs, Companies, and LLPs registered in India under the Companies Act 2013 can apply. The entity must have at least 51% shareholding with Indian citizens or persons of Indian origin. The applicant’s entity should not be a subsidiary company of any foreign corporation.
• To encourage participation from academia and industry, participating teams are not required to be registered as an Indian Company/ Start-up / MSME/ LLP when applying for the Challenge. However, the teams shortlisted at Ideation Stage should have applied for registration as Indian Startup/Company/MSME/LLP and submitted the proof for the same. The necessary registration is expected to be completed by the time of selection at the final stage
• Participants can apply either as “individuals” or “organizations”. Members applying as “individuals” should have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 members in their Group. All other applicants (Startups, MSME, etc.) should apply under the “organization” category only. Organizations are not allowed to participate in a consortium.
• All members of the registering teams should be a minimum of 18 years of age and should be Indian citizens.
• Only one member per participating entity has to register.
• Members of the participating entities should be mutually exclusive, i.e. a member cannot be part of two or more participating entities. 
• Only the eligible members (See Eligibility Criteria) are allowed to participate.

Desirable Credentials

• The participating entity should have carried out similar work earlier.
• The Team Lead and co-lead should have their academic qualifications from reputed Institutions.

Note: Documentary evidence has to be submitted on demand.

*Terms and conditions apply.

Terms and Conditions

• During the Challenge, the Team Leader shall be considered as the Single Point of Contact for all communications by the challenge-implementing agency. Furthermore, the Team Leader/SPOC cannot be changed during the Challenge without the prior consent of the implementing agency (C-DAC/MeitY).
• The Team Leader/SPOC and Participants will be required to use their E-mail ID and Mobile number for the purpose of Team Registration and Account Creation on the challenge portal for participating in the Challenge.
• Any correspondence with the participating entity will be done through the email ID of the Single Point of Contact. Organizers are not liable in case of any email delivery failures.
• The challenge has three stages – In the first stage, leading to ideation, the proposals have to be submitted online, and the qualifying teams alone will move to the next stage – The prototyping stage and the qualifying teams from that stage alone will move to the final stage – Productization stage.
• Teams may be called for multiple presentations and demonstrations of the work and may be required to provide clarifications as may be needed by the implementing agency during the challenge period.
• Teams shall maintain detailed documentation of their Idea, Prototype and Solution at all stages of the Challenge for reference, evaluation and record purposes, and such documentation will carry weightage as deemed fit by the jury. The Challenge Organizing Team, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) or its representatives on its behalf reserve the right to review these documents at any time during the challenge period.
• Teams are allowed removal/voluntary withdrawal of team members only once during the challenge period before the prototype stage. Any such step must be disclosed to the Challenge Organizing Team for approval. No other form of team modification will be entertained.
• The Awards/funding disbursed under this challenge shall be spent for further enhancement and commercialization of the “Indian Web Browser” only. The awarded entity will have to submit a declaration for that effect.
• The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the product developed as part of the open challenge shall be held jointly by MeitY and the entity that developed it. However, MeitY will only exercise its IPR in case the winning team has no plans of bringing the solution for larger public use or commercialization within a stipulated time or fails to initiate its plan within a period of 12 months. In such cases, MeitY may transfer such rights to an appropriate entity(ies). Also, MeitY reserves the right to hold the IPR for any strategic purpose of national interest.
• The solution should not violate/breach/copy already copyrighted, patented or existing products/tools/solutions in this market segment, and participants will solely be responsible for any legal disputes arising in the process and indemnify the organizers from any such obligations, including any losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind arising from:
  • an exclusion or disqualification of such participant pursuant to these rules;
  • late or unsuccessful efforts to notify winners of any prize;
  • forfeiture of a prize and the selection of an alternate winner;
  • late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible or unintelligible entries;
  • telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures or difficulties of any kind;
  • failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions;
  • any condition caused by events beyond control that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; and
  • any injuries, losses or damages of any kind relating to participation in this challenge
• The participants must declare (in a hundred-rupee Non-Judicial Stamp Paper) that the product/solution submitted for the challenge is their own and that there is no Copyright Violation of any sort at any stage of the challenge.
• The participants are free to use free and open-source libraries and also ensure adherence to the terms of such open-source licenses. However, they are expected to make significant and original contributions to the core engine before they reach the final round.
• Secretary (MeitY)’s decision will be the final verdict for any dispute redressal.
• Any legal dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts situated in New Delhi.
• The teams participating as “individuals” or as “organizations” will be evaluated as per the discretions of the Jury.
• The participant should share the following:
  • Complete Source Code(including all the libraries)
  • Executable Files (along with instructions)
  • Documentation of Software design, development and testing
• It may be noted that funds will be transferred only to the bank accounts of Startups/Companies/MSMEs/LLPs and not to the bank accounts of individuals.
• Anyone found non-compliant with the terms and conditions will be debarred from participation in the challenge.

*C-DAC/MeitY reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, suspend this challenge or change, add, and modify the rules, and prizes without prior notice. In no event shall C-DAC/MeitY or other organizers be liable for any claims, losses, expenses or damages, arising out of or in connection with the Challenge.

How to Register?

Kindly keep the following information ready for registration:

• Selection of Category: Individuals (Min. 3, Max. 7), Companies, Startups, Organisations, MSMEs, LLPs.
• Email id and Mobile number of the SPOC (Single Point of Contact).
• A unique name for the participating team.

Before applying kindly go through the Eligibility Criteria and Terms & Conditions.

Note: Please whitelist iwbdc[at]cdac[dot]in in your email service.

Click here to read the official notification of the Indian Web Browser Development Challenge by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) [Total Prize of Rs. 3.4 Cr.].

Image taken from here.