Just In Print Report
Hackathon has caught on in India finally ! Its become a rage with all and sundry. A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest) is an event in … in the sense of playful, exploratory programming, not its alternate meaning as a …an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming:a series of 48-hour hackathons to build new web and mobile services
Hackathons typically start with one or more presentations about the event, as well as about the specific subject, if any. Then participants suggest ideas and form teams, based on individual interests and skills. Then the main work of the hackathon begins, which can last anywhere from several hours to several days. For hackathons that last 24 hours or longer, especially competitive ones, eating is often informal, with participants often subsisting on food like pizza and energy drinks. Sometimes sleeping is informal as well, with participants sleeping on-site with sleeping bags.
At the end of hackathons, there is usually a series of demonstrations in which each group presents their results. There is sometimes a contest element as well, in which a panel of judges select the winning teams, and prizes are given. At many hackathons, the judges are made up of organizers and sponsors. At BarCamp-style hackathons, that are organized by the development community, such as iOSDevCamp, the judges are usually made up of peers and colleagues in the field. Such prizes are sometimes a substantial amount of money; a social gaming Hackathon at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference offered $250,000 in funding to the winners.
Hackathons became significantly more widespread, and began to be increasingly viewed by companies and venture capitalists as a way to quickly develop new software technologies, and to locate new areas for innovation and funding. Some major companies were born from these hackathons, such as GroupMe, which began as a project at a hackathon at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 conference; in 2011 it was acquired by Skype for $85 million. The software PhoneGap began as a project at the iPhoneDevCamp (later renamed iOSDevCamp); the company whose engineers developed PhoneGap, Nitobi, refocused itself around PhoneGap, and Nitobi was bought by Adobe in 2011 for an undisclosed amount. Preparing for the Sanitation Hackathon in India :
The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Infosys, and other partners are hosting a Sanitation Hackathon in Pune, which is one of several cities around the world to host the event on Dec 1-2, 2015. Building on lessons and expert problem statements from the 2011 Water Hackathon led by the
Water and Sanitation Program, Water Anchor and ICT Unit in the World Bank, a Sanitation Hackathon is proposed to leverage the existing partnerships and momentum of the Water hackathon community and to apply a specific focus on sanitation clients and sector needs. Ahead of the event, two brainstorming sessions were held in India, which brought together sanitation sector specialists and software developers to identify problems in the sanitation sector where ICT could help. Technology-based interventions were improving the lives of people. Kumar reiterated the fact that as mobile connections are the rule of the day rather than the exception it was the most relevant platform and the Sanitation Hackathon was an important initiative towards mainstreaming technology-based interventions. As a representative of the government of India he was optimistic that this sanitation initiative would result in an effective roadmap for improving service delivery through mobile applications for all government departments. Given the increasing emphasis in India that the practice of open-defecation is unacceptable, it is heartening to note that there is a strong sense of ownership by the Government of India to end this practice, said Juan Costain, Regional Team Leader for WSP in South Asia, while addressing the gathering. Costain applauded Water Hackathon as a globally successful event. He emphasized that everyoneinvolved was looking forward to making the SanHack an even better and more successful event in all aspects.HACKATHON is being partnered by IIHS & Infosys along with support from Department of Information and Technology; Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation; Ministry of Women and Child Development; Ministry of Health and Urban Development; Kfw; UNICEF; ADB and JICA.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are providing support to the overall event. …a list of sanitation problems and challenges considered important. One of the interesting issues debated and discussed regarding the monitoring of toilet usage. Although Govt. programs fund construction of the toilets, the sustainability or use of the toilets is a cause for concern. The govt of India as we know is very keen to be able to monitor, track and promote behavior change leading to sustainable outcomes. The solution to this problem was envisaged as an application “App” that can record household toilet (photograph with GPS coordinates) and other information (number of adults – male / female; children – male / emale and age; when was the toilet constructed and source of funds, etc) can be captured and a database created. The use of the toilet can then be monitored (through a sensor on the squatting stones) that records people as and when they squat to defecate. Comparing the data captured from the households (time, number of times that the sensor has been activated and the number of individuals in the household) and comparing it with data base (with data on typical usage patterns for households with number and mix of adults and children) one would be able to monitor usage. Additionally the app could also monitor household disease (esp. diarrhea) and hopefully there would be a decrease in household disease with the usage of toilet by all. The intended audience of such an App is the govt who can then monitor the construction and use of toilets in rural areas.
