New Delhi, 25 August, 2015: The first round of the women-only hackathon Tech for Good 2015 was held in New Delhi recently. The event was attended by 100 developers including women students and industry professionals from computing and technology backgrounds.
The hackathon is being organized by the Anita Borg Institute (ABI), a non-profit organization focused on the advancement of women in computer science and engineering and sponsored by American Express in New Delhi. 10,000 Startups (A Nasscom initiative) is the ecosystem partner for this initiative. The main objective of this hackathon is to code and work on ideas and projects that will have a social impact.
The first round of the hackathon is also being conducted in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai and Pune and the finals will be held at the largest technical conference for women in India – the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing India (GHCI) 2015 in Bangalore during 2-4 December, 2015.
“Talent is one of the driving forces of technology innovation at American Express. We’re in the midst of an exciting digital transformation, enhancing the way we do business to meet changing customer needs and engage new customer groups wherever they are, whenever they choose and using whatever device they prefer. Now, with the hackathon, our team is both humbled and excited to promote innovation towards bringing social impact. Also, the event provided an apt platform for women to share and learn from the experiences of others,” said Sanjay Rishi, President, American Express, South Asia.
“ABI is pleased to have created a platform for women technologist to come together and code for projects that have a social impact. Currently there is a large focus of developing technology solutions within India for our country. We look forward to the innovative solutions that will be built by these talented women to bring about a positive change to our society,” said Geetha Kannan, Managing Director – Anita Borg Institute India.
During the first round of the hackathon the participants were briefed on projects from the NGO partners and their technical challenges. The participants were then divided into teams and allotted their projects.
The teams will continue to work together to build a working software product and submit the same a few weeks before the grand finale. The finalists will be selected from these submissions and will go on to present their applications at the grand finale at GHCI in December 2015. The winning teams will be chosen by a panel of judges.
