Telecommunications Ministry set for Hackathon 2017

Nov 10, 2017 News

The Ministry of Public Telecommunications yesterday at a press conference at the Ministry’s boardroom, on Camp Street, Georgetown announced the programme for this year’s Hackathon. It is being held under the theme ‘Hack to the Future’.

From right: Coordinator of Hackathon, Kevin Roopchand; Ministerial Advisor, ICT, Lance Hinds; and Coordinator of Hackathon, Donnella Collison.

Ministerial Advisor on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Lance Hinds, said that the programme expects to have the participation of at least 60 persons competing in 12 groups.
He announced that the much anticipated Hackathon will be held over three days from November 17 at the Pegasus Hotel.
The competition is slated to commence at noon on Friday November 17. Contestants will be expected to work through the entire 48 hours of the programme.
This will be followed by a judging round, after which the winner will be announced on Sunday evening.
“This is really a first come, first served arrangement. As soon as we get 12, we are going to close off. So all teams that are interested, we urge you to register as soon as possible”.
So far four teams have registered. One of them is a Surinamese team.
Hinds said the Ministry always welcomes the participation of its neighbours to be part of the exercise.
Come November 17, contestants will battle for the first prize of $300,000 with additional mentorship from the Ministry to make their production better, thereby securing a sale for the product. Second prize winner will secure $200,000 and third place $150,000.
While the Ministry has not yet decided on what participants will produce over the period of time, it was promised that, “anything that we select for them to do must have some application, either in the Government, Civil Society or the Private Sector”. This, according to Hinds, has been the policy of the programme from the inception.
The advisor to the Minister stated that an invitation to the public was scheduled to be sent out yesterday to give these persons an opportunity to make a suggestion as to what type of product they think will be useful in the various Ministries and why.
Even as the activity is slated for next week, it was noted that this is an initiative that the Ministry is developing to inform Guyana on the Technical talent that is engraved in youths.
Kevin Roopchan, a member of the coordinating team, said he encourages persons with the necessary skills to take part in the contest and considers building a team rather than jumping into the programme.
He noted that the newest aspect of this year’s Hackathon will allow persons in Guyana to also make contributions to the programme in the form of suggestions.
A prize will be given also to persons with such ideas. Details on this aspect of the competition can be viewed on the Ministry’s Facebook page.
Persons desirous of participating in the activity are expected to be equipped with skills in the areas of programming, modern languages, whether Java Script or Dot Net and experience in developing mobile or web applications.
It was further related that participants will be in talks with the coordinating officials from Hackathon so that they will be informed on what is expected of them in terms of performance as well as behaviour.
Registration is expected to end on November 15 for the activity; however, if 12 teams are acquired before this date, registration will be halted.
Last year’s Hackathon attracted eight teams. The winner is currently being assisted to make his project run in the Agricultural Ministry.

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