Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), publishers of NewsDay, The Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent will next week Thursday hold the first ever Hackathon in Zimbabwe, bringing developers from around the country to participate in a digital application development challenge.
A hackathon — also known as a hackfest or hack day — is an event in which web developers, software developers, mobile developers and others in the field of software development collaborate intensively on software-related projects.
At AMH apart from reporting news and empowering the public with information we are passionate about providing thought leadership, innovation and inspiring this great country, AMH Chairman Trevor Ncube said. We are happy when Zimbabweans succeed and ready to celebrate this success.
The AMH Hackathon seeks to provide a platform and space where young and talented Zimbabweans brain storm, collaborate and compete in innovating for the future. Technology will play a huge role in Zimbabwes future and we want to help nurture and cultivate that talent for the benefit of us all.
A total of 15 Developers, working individually or in teams, are expected to come up with and develop innovative applications (apps) and tools in a limited period of time.
This event will go on for 12 hours and winners will be selected upon completion.
Winners will receive prizes and these new apps may be adapted by AMH to illustrate innovation across the digital platforms.
The AMH Hackathon is the first step in creating a technology innovation hub in Zimbabwe that will nurture young talent and create entrepreneurs who will help drive our future economy. It will also help identify the talent, recognise and encourage its growth and showcase it to the world.
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We want to help talented young Zimbabweans build applications to solve the problems that we encounter in business and our daily lives. The AMH Hackathon will be a space for creativity, collaboration, competition and inspiration, Ncube said.
Companies that have previously held such events are Facebook, Yahoo, BBC, and LinkedIn, and recently New York City State held a hackathon for the purposes of reinventing their website in April. Hackathons are an integral part of Facebooks product development process.
In a TechCrunch report, founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg said, The word hacker has an unfairly negative connotation from being portrayed in the media as people who break into computers, he wrote. In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done.
Like most things, it can be used for good or bad, but the vast majority of hackers Ive met tend to be idealistic people who want to have a positive impact on the world.
Facebook Hackathons are a chance for employees to work on half-baked ideas and turn them into real products that eventually get shipped. Everything from Facebooks chat system to an early version of Timeline called Memories have come out of Hackathons.
The AMH Hackathon will therefore give developers and opportunity to create digital products that offer digital solutions to the media in Zimbabwe.
*Special Appearence by Ory Okolloh – Google’s Policy Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Submit your registration to: Email stating the following: First Name, Last Name, I.D. Number, Software Languages you use, your email and mobile number.
