In today’s data-driven era – 5G and innovation are intertwined to drive progress for society. ‘5G Innovation is not a luxury only meant for the big cities – it should reach to even the remotest corners of the nation’. Keeping this thought in mind, NER Hackathon 2025, organised by NERCOMS and Amantya Technologies became an ideal platform for innovators in North Eastern Region to showcase their innovative ideas in front of distinguished panel of jury members.
57 teams showcasing different innovative ideas competed at NER Tech Hackathon 2025 funded by North Eastern Council, MDoNER, Government of India and Organized by NERCORMS and Amantya Technologies, to drive 5G innovation in North East India. IndiMeat emerged as the winner of the Grand Prize of INR 10 Lakh.
As the rest of India rapidly adopts 5G, the Northeast, with its unique geographical and cultural landscape, stands to benefit significantly from this next-generation connectivity. By leveraging 5G, businesses, governments, and communities in the region can address long-standing challenges and unlock new avenues for development.
5G Bridging the Digital Divide
Northeast India has historically faced connectivity challenges due to its rugged terrain and remote locations. 5G applications hold great promise to bridge this digital divide, enabling high-speed internet access even in the most isolated areas. This connectivity can empower local businesses to integrate into the national and global economy, fostering entrepreneurship and creating jobs.
For instance, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in sectors like agriculture, medicine, food processing and natural gas & mining, can leverage 5G to access larger markets, streamline operations, and enhance customer engagement through. NER Hackathon became an ideal platform to highlight such innovative ideas.
IndiMeat, Nibiaa Shine Bright on Innovation
By driving innovation in the Northeast region and making a meaningful difference – IndiMeat received Gold prize and Nibiaa won the Runners-up prize at the NER Hackathon 2025.
Sayanika Deka, Co-Founder, IndiMeat said that she is looking forward to utilizing the prize money on implementation of blockchain technology. “I can utilise the amount for implementation of block chain technology which would give our livestock farmers a new identity. It’s like another step towards shaping my dream.” She added.
The NER Hackathon Experience
Sayanika Deka is extremely happy on their Hackathon participation. “We have an incredible experience. The dignitaries in the form of Jury members and the learning from their journey have encouraged us a lot. The innovative ideas of fellow participants have opened up our horizon to think out of the box. The unique mix of college students, startups and experience of business personalities has facilitated peer learning, networking and collaboration possibilities for us. We are going to use the award money for implementing block chain technology and a portion for R&D, testing of our food product. We are thankful to NERCORMP, Amantya, NEC for bringing the platform which helped us to bloom,” she added.
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Commenting on his experience and learning at the Hackathon, Aeroshil Nameirakpam, Co-Founder & CEO, Nibiaa Devices, said, “Our team is very grateful for the opportunity to showcase our solution during the NER Hackathon 2025 organized by NERCOM & Amantya. Due to the remoteness of our location – we in the North Eastern region of India have been deprived to attend such events that happen in Mainland India all the time. NER Hackathon was an excellent opportunity to showcase some of the amazing work done by Startups and Students from the North Eastern Part of India and we are very grateful to the organizers. We should have such events more frequently and introduce the spirit of Entrepreneurship and Startups in the region. Our team is humbled and grateful for the opportunity.
Our Nibiaa Team has been working on LoRa & LoRaWAN Technology for 4 years. Even if we are in a remote location like Imphal, Manipur which has had a very difficult 2 years because of Ethnic violence in the region our company has been able to build a business model that has allowed us to Operate in 9 countries with about 22 B2B clients & Growing for our solution & services. We are one of the few startups that has grown to be able to generate export revenue with our hardware & Software Services from Manipur with our limited team members. Even facing a challenge like Internet shutdown for nearly 6 months in 2 years really had a bad impact on our business but we still are surviving and thriving in our ecosystem. We are sure this award is a validation for the kind of innovative work we are doing,” he added.
5G as a Great Enabler
5G’s ultra-low latency and high bandwidth capabilities have huge potential to revolutionize key sectors in the Northeast. In agriculture, smart farming solutions powered by 5G can enable real-time monitoring of crops, soil conditions, and weather patterns, improving yields and reducing waste.
Similarly, the healthcare sector can benefit from telemedicine and remote diagnostics, ensuring quality medical care reaches even the most remote villages. The tourism industry, a cornerstone of the Northeast’s economy, can enhance visitor experiences through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications, showcasing the region’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty.
Sayanika Deka says that 5G is a great enabler today. North East is known for hilly terrain, less connectivity. Monsoon and erosion impact in the development of NER. With 5G, we can look at Guwahati to become as a smart city. 5G delivers faster speed on connectivity, we can work on real time data, enable use of IoT and drones in various sectors.
“Our livestock farmers are skilled and they use medicinal plants to treat the poultry. However, Assam and NER is facing the Bird Flu problem from long time since it shares international boundaries. Our poultry/ livestock farmers have been hit badly. With the use of 5G, IoT, use of censors, we would be able to get the real time monitoring. It will help to detect early signs of illness and it can be cured in a timely fashion.
We can give a unique identity to Karbi Tribal Women to get introduced globally through blockchain technology, it can give a sense of trust to consumers by end to end traceability.”
Aeroshil Nameirakpam says that 5G and other emerging technology will be the great enabler for bringing cutting edge solutions even to a remote location like the North Eastern region of India. “Recent developments like Starlink high speed Internet Access through Airtel & Jio will also help immensely to bridge the technology divide. Even the solution that we are building is going to complement the 5G network once built so that we can connect the unconnected and build India specific use-cases that cater for our Indian customers with our unique challenges and problems.”
The North Eastern Regional Community Resource Management Society (NERCORMS) concluded the NER Tech Hackathon 2025 on March 11, 2025. The event saw participation from 57 teams representing colleges and startups across North East India. The hackathon was organized under the project “Deepening of Scientific Research on 5G Use Cases for Solving Challenges of Society” by NERCORMS, a society under the North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India.
