Have an idea or want to build an app for social good?

“Hack Across the Pond” is an event designed for attendees (technical & non-technical) to build apps/mobile apps, get fed, compete for prizes across different categories and most importantly: meet new people and scout for teammates to work on new or current projects. Our hackathon presents an opportunity to experiment with mobile application development platforms, APIs, and “smart” devices.

Using motion, voice, and other smartphone-based sensory inputs, and combining them with cloud-based data sources (from social media streams and other feeds), the goal is to help people be more responsive and sensitive toward one another and generally improve the quality of life. Whether you are a student, a professional engineer, a designer, or just have an idea for a cool app or game and want to source a team to give it life, this event will be valuable to you.

Social Good Challenge - We have teamed up with UK Trade and Investment, Human Rights Watch, SGSGlobal, and others to bring you social good projects that were specifically requested from organizations focused on improving society. We have prizes for teams willing to take the challenge and build applications for good! Be sure to review the challenges below and get ready to code your way to some cold hard cash while doing your part to improve society.

• Human Rights Circle
• Conditions are dire for people all over the world. Yet mobile apps and social media is bringing opportunity and aid to these areas in ways we could not have imaged. Can you develop an app that helps improve the quality of life for people in war-torn, drought or hunger-stricken communities? An expert will help you understand what is wanted and needed in the world, and to award a £250 prize for the App that best supports people, protects students, aids in investigating abuses, or connects people with the resources they need most.

Additional Challenges - We have teamed up with UK Trade and Investment and other prominent organisations to bring you rewards for projects that improve society.

• Hack Across The Pond Circle
• Collaboration is the key to success in a Hackathon and that fact has not gone unnoticed by governments wishing to foster the exchange of innovation and ideas between and among different countries around the globe. Teams composed of people from both Cambridge and London not only have two chances to win, they also qualify for the UKTI “Hack Across the Pond” award.
   
• Enterprise-Grade Mobile Apps Circle
• Just like governments and human rights groups, companies are also trying to make life better for their employees and their customers. By making mundane business tasks more like games, employers can improve customer loyalty and employee satisfaction. Build an app that is suitable for deployment in a corporate setting and you qualify for the prize. 

We Supply: Quick presentations and code samples that help to bootstrap your hacking, food to keep you going, and caffeine to keep you awake. Along with technical senseis to assist you in building faster, smarter, and with new tools.

You Bring: Your laptop, skills & ideas. Come with a collaborative, team focused mindset and/or team up in advance on Twitter/Facebook/Google+ via the #atthack hashtag. Whether you are a backend person and code in Ruby/PHP/.NET or are a designer and only work with Illustrator, you are invited to attend this event. Every group needs a good balance of talent and your development skills are needed!

Event Schedule.  The following is a list of the weekends agenda:

• 6PM - 10pm Friday Evening - Kickoff event with drinks, networking, and developer dating which leads into idea pitches and team formation.

• 10AM - 6pm Saturday -  The fun continues with an all day hackathon. Work with the teams that you formed on Friday night to produce the app spec’d out the night before. Senseis will be available throughout the entire event to help you code up your solution.

• 11am - 6pm Sunday  - Promptly at 4PM, teams will begin pitching their ventures. Pitches are limited to three (3) minutes per team.
  

Prizes. Prizes are geared towards accelerating you towards a successful business as well as expanding your network and industry knowledge

Judging Criteria. Apps will be judged based on the criteria below and weighted accordingly.  

• 33% Weight - Ability to clearly articulate what your app does

• 33% Weight - Originality of idea

• 33% Weight - Use of  technologies, as articulated by the judges at the start of the competition.

 

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Speakers

 

 

Alex Gaber, is an API Evangelist for Layer 7 Technologies a company that manages over 200 APIs spanning business and government.  Starting as a web developer 15 years ago, Alex grew up in Silicon Valley and is an active member in the hackathon and developer community.  He has a passion for building web and mobile applications that integrate numerous APIs and ideas to create innovative and unique solutions.

Russ Klein, a serial entrepreneur and software engineer, based in Boston. Founder of Hack The Hackathon, bringing enterprise-grade development environments, expert coaching, and incentives to aspiring developers worldwide. Passionate about extending crowdsourcing and agile methodologies to improve the business process, user experience, and overall quality of life.

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Senseis

Andrew Borg, is Senior Research Analyst and practice lead in Wireless & Mobility for Aberdeen Group. He is focused on identifying the enablers and friction points in the adoption of wireless and mobility technologies within the enterprise, and in the markets those enterprises serve. His particular interest is in documenting the behavioral and procedural adaptations that the most successful companies within an industry have made; and then in disseminating those best practices for a broader audience to benefit from.

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