Empowering Youth to Lead the Charge: TCS Sustainathon South Africa to Tackle Sustainable Water and Sanitation

Tata Consultancy Services’ Problem-Solving Competition Empowers Students to Create Innovative Digital Solutions to Help Overcome the Most Urgent Sustainability Challenges

Press release

JOHANNESBURG, August 18, 2023: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) has launched the second edition of TCS Sustainathon South Africa with the theme Sustainable Water and Sanitation Management.

TCS Sustainathon is a global problem-solving competition that inspires the youth to develop and execute innovative ideas that address real-world problems leveraging digital technologies. It is a platform that enables young minds to collaborate with private companies, non-profit organisations, and government agencies to co-create solutions to sustainability challenges. This year’s partners for the South Africa challenge are Geekulcha, UbuhleBakhe Water, SkillsLAB and City of Tshwane.

The theme of Sustainable Water and Sanitation Management aligns with Goal 6 of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, aimed at achieving universal, equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for everyone. TCS is a registered UN partner, and has collaborated with the organisation on numerous initiatives.

Students and graduates over the age of 18, from any university in South Africa, can sign up as teams of three – five, to participate in TCS Sustainathon. Entrants can read through a set of challenge statements on the website and select one. They have until 31 August to make an online submission of their solution proposal. The 10 finalists selected will have the chance to prepare their presentation for the grand finale event on 2 October.

The winning team will collect a cash prize of R 30,000, while students in second and third place will win R 20,000 and R 10,000 respectively. All finalists will receive R 5,000.

“We are proud to help empower our country’s young people to make a difference through TCS Sustainathon. The program provides them with mentorship and access to corporates in South Africa, which we believe helps inspire them to advocate for a more sustainable world,” said Langa Dube, Country Head, TCS South Africa.

“We look forward to working with young people on their TCS Sustainathon ideas, and together coming up with sustainable, practical solutions, to help our country meet its water and sanitation needs,” said Colleen Makola, CEO / Founder of uBuhleBakhe Water™. “The challenge is a great way to drive positive change and create a lasting impact in South Africa.”

TCS Sustainathon was launched last year to great success, exposing students to many of the real-life environmental issues and challenges facing South Africa today, and providing a platform to address these problems through policy, design, and innovation.

TCS Sustainathon is a global initiative that is also held in the UK, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and India. Details about the challenge are available on the TCS Sustainathon website.

ABOUT TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 55 years. Its consulting-led, cognitive powered, portfolio of business, technology and engineering services and solutions is delivered through its unique Location Independent Agile™ delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has over 615,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 55 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $27.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, and is listed on the BSE and the NSE in India. TCS' proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more information, visit www.tcs.com

TCS media contacts

Corporate Communications & India

corporate.communications@tcs.com

saxena.kritika@tcs.com

+91 22 6778 9999

shreya.bhandary@tcs.com

+91 22 67789098 

Asia Pacific

y.tham@tcs.com

+65 9720 9005

Canada

tiffany.fisher@tcs.com

+1 416 456 7650

Latin America

alma.leal@tcs.com

+521 55 2095 6098

Australia and New Zealand

francesca.newby@tcs.com

+61 414 902 440

Europe

roland.bagen@tcs.com

+46 70 3178024

Japan

douglas.foote@tcs.com

+81 80 2115 0989

Middle East & Africa

pragya.priyadarshini@tcs.com

+971 528656700

UK

priyanka.mehta@tcs.com

+44 7921493382

USA

andrew.corcione@tcs.com

+1 646 617 8221

Contact

TCS is here to make a difference through technology.

We deliver excellence and create value for customers and communities.

Extraordinary expertise leads to remarkable results.

Want to be a global change-maker? Join our team.

Find the latest news about TCS in our Newsroom

Recent Press releases

Recent News

Recent recognitions

Upcoming events

TCS works hand in hand with world-leading investors.

Global knowledge. Local support