In the coming days and weeks Indiana and Texas tech enthusiasts will duke it out in a battle of technological skill, competing in a civic hackathon challenge to inspire entrepreneurship and digital innovation in government.
The Indiana-Texas Challenge which is intended to create innovative applications helpful to government offers awards totaling $4,000 to each state winner in two categories. In addition $4,000 will be given to one grand prize, not to mention bragging rights for his or her respective state, according to the events press release. The Challenge begins January 3st and runs through February 23rd; Winners will be announced in March.
Hackathons, which have become popular among tech novices and experts alike over the past decade, brings programmers, designers, entrepreneurs and others together to collaborate intensively on software projects. Civic hackathons such as #hackINvTX allow these collaborators to use code and public data to find solutions to problems in neighborhoods, cities, states and the nation.
-Were excited about the possibilities this event can bring out. The entrepreneur community is very strong in Indiana, and the hope is that the state will find really good solutions to real problems were having and that civic hackers are able to build a business out of this,- said Graig Lubsen, communications and marketing director for the Indiana Office of Technology. -A lot of civic hackathons are 24-48 hours, and when we first started talking to Texas, we said we want to go bigger to get something developed that can truly have an impact on the public.-
Lubsen, an organizer for the event, explained that by expanding the hackathon to a three-week series of events that spans across Indiana and Texas, entrepreneurs and software developers will have a bigger network and timeframe to create viable tech solutions for their home states. The applications created are not only meant to encourage government transparency and open data, but also to promote interstate collaboration and competition.
The State of Indiana has received sponsorship from the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and TechPoint, the hub and accelerator for Indianas technology ecosystems. Texas is being sponsored by Texas.gov, the official website of the State of Texas, and NIC, a provider of official government websites and online services.
According to hackerleague.org, competing teams must have at least one member who resides in one of the competing states.
