Bengaluru, November 17, 2021– To foster technology-led innovation and seamless passenger experiences, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) — operator of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) has collaborated with Microsoft India for the ‘BIAL Genie Hackathon’ to develop an app using Microsoft Azure. The hackathon invites professional developers, data scientists, data engineers and hackathon enthusiasts to participate in this challenge and design innovative solutions that will improve the end-to-end passenger experience at BLR Airport.
The hackathon which commenced on October 27 and will end on January 21, 2022, will allow developers to leverage a wide array of Microsoft Azure services to improve a passenger’s experience across different stages of their journey – starting from planning the journey and boarding the flight to arriving at their destination airport. Following the hackathon, developers will showcase their solutions and shortlisted participants will submit their prototypes with all supporting documents which will be evaluated by the jury. Shortlisted teams will be provided Azure credits, technical resources, and mentoring sessions by Microsoft subject matter experts (SMEs). The winning teams will be announced on January 24, 2022, with the winner and runner up being awarded cash rewards of INR 1.5 lakhs and INR 1 lakh respectively.
This initiative is in line with BIAL’s consistent efforts to develop a superior customer service that enables passengers to have a simple, seamless, and engaging travel journey while flying through BLR Airport. BIAL has been the recipient of multiple awards including Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality and the prestigious ACI Director General’s Roll of Excellence for 2020.
Commenting on the collaboration with Microsoft, George Fanthome, Chief Information Officer, BIAL, said, “At BIAL, we are embedding innovative technologies across BLR Airport to continuously introduce solutions through a digital transformation of our airport operations. We are excited to associate with Microsoft to conduct the BIAL Genie Hackathon which will help us in developing new solutions that deliver seamless passenger experiences.”
Shivir Chordia, Azure Business Group Lead, Microsoft India, said, ‘’Empowering more people to unleash their potential remains a priority at Microsoft. We are delighted to collaborate with BIAL for the Genie Hackathon – an opportunity for programmers and developers to use Azure’s cloud computing technology and design a unique and comfortable passenger experience that will transform the travel experience for next generation travellers.”
For more details on the hackathon please visit: Online Hackathon | HackerEarth developer event | BIAL Genie Hackathon
About BIAL
Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport), named after the founder of the City – Hiriya Kempegowda – has the unique distinction of being the first Greenfield Airport in India, established on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. This heralded a revolution in Indian aviation, as more airports in the Country were privatised, thereafter. BLR Airport commenced operations on May 24, 2008 – 33 months from the start of construction. The expansion of the Terminal was completed in 2014 to cater to the steady, unprecedented growth in passenger volumes. Having served 10 million passengers in 2008, BLR Airport witnessed phenomenal growth during the subsequent years, becoming the fastest growing airport in the world in 2018. As the busiest Airport in South India and the third largest in the Country, BLR Airport welcomed 33.3 million passengers in FY 2018-19.
About Microsoft India
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 16,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian startups, businesses, and government organizations.
