What does it take to be a Smart (City) Fellow and intern with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

A conversation with NIIT U’s M.Tech. student Joydip Datta

 “Excellence isn’t about working extra hard to do what you are told. It’s about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing,” Seth Godin. It’s the mantra Joydip Datta, MTech – Geographic Information Systems student of NIIT University lives by. So when it was time for the crucial industry practice he made the smart move of taking matters in his own hands. After seeing an ad for internship at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi he decided to send in an application with a proposal plan. The decision paid off as he is now interning as Smart City Fellow and earning a handsome stipend of Rs. 60,000 per month. But the real life experiences he is getting will have an enriching impact on his long term career.

You decided to go the extra mile to find the internship opportunity of your choice. What was the motivation behind the move?

I believe there is a gap between education and industry sector. Industry Practice helps us meet that gap and gives us great exposure to develop requisite skills. My background is Geography and then I did MTech in GIS from NIIT University. Understanding of spaces is one of my key skills along with mapping. So when I saw this opportunity I knew I had to make the most of it.

How did you do that, and was there a selection process for the Ministry internship?

It started with me seeing the advertisement for the internship on their website. I applied with a proposal of development plan. My proposal was for an integrated Land Directory management plan using GIS and Data Science. Based on the proposals they called 189 applicants for interviews and eventually selected 48 of us for the fellowship.

Tell us about your role and the project you are working on?

As Smart City Fellows we are monitoring and planning for the smart cities to ensure better management. It’s an interdisciplinary project where we have cohorts from Architecture, planning, economics, Data Science, Disaster Management, Sociology, and Geoinformatics. We are working according to our project needs and I never felt unprepared for the role.

What are some of the challenges and highlights of the internship that make it stand out for you?

We are analyzing COVID-19 situation in India and I had no experience in pandemic crisis before. I have tried my best to contribute with my skills. Working directly with the Ministry is a unique opportunity in itself. It’s not traditional geoinformatics internship because Smart City is a very contemporary sector. But above all, it’s not just an internship; we are working to shape our cities and thereby our country for a better future, and to showcase it to the world.

Testimonial

“It’s not just an internship; we are working to shape our cities and thereby our country for a better future, and to showcase it to the world.”