The National Health Authority (NHA), in collaboration with the ICMR–National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science (NIRDHDS) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, successfully concluded the Federated Intelligence Hackathon focused on the development of Digital Public Goods (DPGs) for Health AI. Held from 19 to 24 January 2026 at IIT Kanpur as a pre-event to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the national initiative aimed to promote the creation of secure, privacy-preserving and scalable artificial intelligence solutions for healthcare in India.
Driving Responsible and Federated Health AI Ecosystems
The hackathon was designed to accelerate innovation in responsible Health AI by encouraging solutions based on federated, consent-driven architectures. These approaches enable AI innovation without centralising sensitive health data, ensuring:
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Strong data privacy
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Institutional trust
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Ethical deployment
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Scalable adoption across India’s healthcare ecosystem
The initiative aligns closely with the goals of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to build citizen-centric digital health infrastructure.
NHA CEO Highlights Shift from Experimentation to Trustworthy AI Models
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Authority, stressed the strategic importance of developing a trusted and benchmarked federated AI ecosystem for healthcare.
He noted that:
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AI systems must be tested on diverse, population-scale datasets before real-world deployment
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Federated architectures allow innovation to scale without compromising privacy
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Solutions must be context-aware, inclusive and reflective of India’s demographic diversity
Citing platforms such as AB PM-JAY and ABDM, he emphasised that India is uniquely positioned to lead in responsible, population-scale Health AI.
Senior Leaders and Experts Share Perspectives on Digital Public Infrastructure
The inaugural session featured addresses by:
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Prof. Sandeep Verma, Head, Gangwal School of Medical Sciences & Technology
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Shri Manindra Agrawal, Director, IIT Kanpur
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Ms. Ritu Maheshwari, Secretary, Medical Health & Family Welfare and State Mission Director, ABDM–Uttar Pradesh
They highlighted the growing importance of academic–government collaboration in shaping India’s digital health future.
Dr. R. S. Sharma, Distinguished Visiting Professor at IIT Kanpur and former CEO of NHA, underlined how Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and interoperable Digital Public Goods can enable secure, scalable and citizen-centric health data management.
Need for Indigenous and Open-Source AI Emphasised
Shri Vivek Raghavan, CEO and Co-founder, SarvamAI, highlighted the importance of:
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Strong data quality standards
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Privacy-by-design systems
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Security-first architecture
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Indigenous, open-source AI models
He stressed that local AI sovereignty is essential to reduce external dependencies and maximise the impact of AI in the public sector, ensuring that innovation remains responsible and inclusive.
ICMR–NIRDHDS Showcases Ongoing AI in Health Initiatives
A dedicated session led by ICMR–NIRDHDS showcased the organisation’s ongoing initiatives in Health AI research, policy frameworks and implementation pathways. The session underscored the importance of evidence-based AI deployment and the integration of research with real-world healthcare delivery.
Benchmarking Platform Ensures Trustworthy Evaluation of AI Models
Through a partnership between IIT Kanpur and NHA, a national benchmarking platform is being developed to evaluate the performance and reliability of AI models. This platform:
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Ensures data privacy and institutional control
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Supports objective evaluation of AI solutions
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Encourages innovation at national scale
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Builds trust in AI deployment for healthcare
All AI models developed during the hackathon were evaluated on this platform.
Strong National Participation Reflects Growing Health AI Ecosystem
The hackathon witnessed enthusiastic nationwide participation:
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374 total registrations
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208 individual participants
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166 teams (two or more participants)
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About 54% participants identified as AI researchers or innovators
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Others included:
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Health-tech startups
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Healthcare providers
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Graduate students
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Data scientists
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Technology professionals
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This diverse participation reflects the rapid growth of India’s Health AI innovation ecosystem.
Winners Recognised Across Three Key Healthcare Use Cases
Winners were announced across three critical healthcare domains:
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Bone age prediction
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Cataract detection
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Diabetic retinopathy screening
The shortlisted teams presented their methodologies to an expert jury, demonstrating both technical excellence and real-world applicability.
The winners received:
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Certificates of recognition
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Cash prizes worth ₹12 lakh in total
Conclusion
The successful conclusion of the Federated Intelligence Hackathon marks a significant step in India’s journey towards building secure, interoperable and citizen-centric Health AI systems. By bringing together policymakers, researchers, technologists and innovators, the initiative strengthens the foundation for responsible AI deployment under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. It reinforces India’s emerging leadership in shaping ethical, scalable and inclusive artificial intelligence for public healthcare.
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Source: PIB
