Delhi : SFLC.in, with the support of FOSS United, successfully hosted its nationwide Hackathon 2025 on the theme of Defending Digital Freedom, from October 31 to November 2, bringing together 67 teams of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) advocates, professionals, and students from across India.
The three-day event created a collaborative space for developers to design community-driven, open-technology solutions to support digital freedoms and advance India’s growing FOSS ecosystem. The hackathon reflects a shared commitment to positioning India as a global hub for open-source innovation and nurturing a generation of developers inspired by transparency, accessibility, and shared progress.
Participants were mentored by a panel of experts from the FOSS and technology communities, including Akshay S. Dinesh, Co-founder of actionforequity.in; Kannan V.M., FSCI Community Member; Devashish R. Purandare, Software Engineer 2 at Microsoft (Azure Storage); Ambady Anand, Senior Software Engineer at Accion Labs; Akshit Tyagi, Member of Technical Staff at LambdaTest; and Kathara Sasikumar, Linux Foundation Kernel Fellow and Debian Maintainer.
The judging panel comprised two eminent leaders: Ms. Mishi Choudhary, Founder of SFLC.in and Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Virtru (USA), a technology lawyer and online civil liberties advocate who has championed digital rights and open-source development globally; and Mr. Faisal Farooqui, Founder & CEO of MouthShut.com, a pioneer in India’s internet entrepreneurship space recognized among the British High Commission’s Top 50 Young Leaders. The jury was supported by Mr. Poruri Sai Rahul, CEO of FOSS United. FOSS United is dedicated to the cause of building Free and Open Source (FOSS) projects and communities in India and elsewhere.
The hackathon recognised outstanding innovations that combined social impact with open-source ingenuity. The first place was awarded to Team Hoax for their project Blackout, which tracks censorship incidents in India to promote internet transparency and accountability. The team was led by Rishabh Sharma. Second place went to Team Why So Serious? for developing a Dynamic Internet Shutdown Tracking System designed by Saran Kumar, Santosh Kumar, and Pradeepta to map and analyse digital disruptions in real time. Team StackOverHack secured third place, with Pranav Sharma, Shreeya Banerjee, and Sousnigdha Das recognised for their innovative contribution to the FOSS community.
SFLC.in stated that the hackathon embodied the spirit of open collaboration and knowledge sharing that defines India’s FOSS movement. By empowering young developers to build for the public good, SFLC.in aims to foster a more inclusive, transparent, and self-reliant digital future for the nation.
The hackathon underscores SFLC.in’s mission to promote free and open-source software, strengthen India’s digital public infrastructure, and foster a sustainable, inclusive technology ecosystem powered by collaboration and community participation.
