Information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday launched 25 challenges hosted by industry associations in animation, filmmaking, gaming, music and visual arts in the run up to the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES), the MIB’s marquee event for the media and entertainment sector which will be held for the first time in November in Goa.
“The challenges launched today reflect today’s economy. The world of media and entertainment has changed as technology has evolved…leading to creation of creator economy…[which] has a lot of potential,” Vaishnaw said. He said that the government wants to foster and encourage talent in media and entertainment and is thus planning to set up at least one major university to train creators in media and entertainment with smaller institutes across the country.
Vaishnaw said that, in internal meetings, the government has concluded that if its plans for the sector are executed successfully, 200,000-300,000 jobs can be created in this sector. He, however, warned that development in this space shouldn’t harm society and that we should protect ourselves from addictive things.
One of the challenges that was unveiled on Thursday was the ‘TruthTell Hackathon’ hosted by the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA).
“We are trying to make real-time fact-checking tools for broadcasting industry while the live broadcast is on. We know this is a big challenge. We need to address misinformation or disinformation which can cause different types of issues,” Rajesh Sharma, the executive director and principal advisor of ICEA, said at the event.
{{/usCountry}}“We are trying to make real-time fact-checking tools for broadcasting industry while the live broadcast is on. We know this is a big challenge. We need to address misinformation or disinformation which can cause different types of issues,” Rajesh Sharma, the executive director and principal advisor of ICEA, said at the event.
{{/usCountry}}The stated objectives of this challenge also included enhancing media transparency, fostering innovation in AI methodologies for media, and encouraging collaboration between data scientists, AI developers and media professionals.
For this challenge, the ICEA will release a call for applications and shortlist top 100 projects who will be funded to present their proof of concept in 60 days. ICEA will sponsor the top 25 to build prototypes and minimum viable products which will be judged by a jury. The top 5 tools will be presented at the WAVES in November, Sharma said.
Other challenges included reel making challenge by IAMAI, battle of bands by Prasar Bharati, and virtual influencer creation contest by AVTR meta labs.