Coders, data analysts, marketers, graphic designers and communicators will descend upon Wyndham to take part in one of the world’s biggest hackathons, GovHack.
Wyndham City will be one of the few western suburbs Councils to take part in the major event, where from 28 to 30 July, participants will compete in teams to develop the most creative uses for publicly available data.
Wyndham City’s Smart City portfolio holder, Cr Aaron An, said the event was open to anybody and was all about unlocking the power and potential of open data.
Cr Aaron An
“GovHack is open to anybody who would like to test their skills. You don’t need to be a technical expert to take part, with people on hand to offer support throughout the event”
“GovHack is an opportunity for thousands of people to come together for 48 nonstop hours and use open data to develop projects that can make a difference to the community,” Cr An said.
“This is the seventh year this global event has been held, and the first time Wyndham City will act as a host. Council data will be given to participants for them to develop into useful tools—anything from web and mobile apps to artworks or stories,” added Cr An.
Some of the award winning projects developed by ‘hackers’ as part of last year’s event include a website that calculates your risks of being involved in a car crash or your home flooding or being broken into, and recommend ways of reducing those risks, a visualisation that can pick the best location for a new business, and an augmented reality mobile app that helps people learn about nearby wildlife, parks and landmarks.
“GovHack is open to anybody who would like to test their skills. You don’t need to be a technical expert to take part, with people on hand to offer support throughout the event,” Cr An said.
“Wyndham is a rapidly changing municipality. Our surging population, and the challenges that represents, means we need to be innovative and work collaboratively to come up with new solutions. GovHack is one way we can continue to think outside the box and Wyndham City is proud to be a part of this global push towards innovation,” he added.
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