Region’s Talented Tech Minds to Compete at
Wednesday, 27 September 2017, 12:17 pm
Press Release: HACKNELSON
Region’s talented minds will compete to solve
primary sector challenges at
The
call is out for the Nelson Tasman region’s best minds to
sign up for – an event that aims to make a
practical contribution to solving challenges faced by our
region’s primary sector businesses. is
launching on 5 October and culminates in an intensive
48-hour collaboration challenge from 10-12 November at NMIT.
Primary sector businesses have the opportunity to provide
real-life challenges that their businesses are encountering
for the competing groups to address. Challenges include
actual business data but are made anonymous so client
information is protected. Groups will then work together to
identify fresh ideas and create prototype solutions for
Nelson Tasman businesses. invites
participants from a wide variety of backgrounds –
including but not limited to creative designers, engineers,
and digital technology and software development specialists.
The groups will work intensely in multi-disciplinary teams
of 5-10 people to solve specific business problems presented
by established regional producers. The type of challenge
that might be tackled could include how to develop a 3D
underwater camera system to estimate the number and size of
fish inside a fish farm, or developing an artificial
intelligence system to automatically write email responses,
or designing a website or machine learning system to assist
with a problem faced by a primary sector business.
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Participants will be supported by mentors with various
specialist skills, who will educate, coach and guide
competitors through the event. There will also be plenty of
food and drink and a fun atmosphere. Once the 48 hours are
up each team will present their results to a ‘Dragon’s
Den’ of judges, vying for a prize pool that includes a
first prize of $2000 cash.
“ will be a
competitive but supportive environment, involving people
from all backgrounds and with a variety of skills that will
lead to innovative and powerful solutions produced in a very
short time,” says Datacom’s Nelson Manager Matthew Dodd.
“This is a model that is well proven in New Zealand and
around the world and we are delighted to sponsor the event
here in Nelson Tasman. “The process provides an
opportunity for professional development for participants
– it’s an ideal event to send members of your team along
to – it’s also a great way for people within our
community to showcase their capability and talent to
multiple businesses and organisations.”
The Nelson
Regional Development Agency (NRDA) sees real potential for
to contribute tangible results for participants
and business. “We see the event as part of a burgeoning
ecosystem designed to help businesses to disrupt their
thinking and really get to the heart of problems and
challenges they are facing,” says NRDA Chief Executive,
Mark Rawson. “We believe that the process
can help producers to utilise local talent to unlock
solutions, and to identify how to develop those solutions in
a way that’s relevant for the rapidly-changing world in
which we’re doing business. “We recognise that the
NRDA has a key and central role to play in this area and
we’re actively engaged in a range of initiatives to
support our region’s businesses to use technology and
different approaches to problem-solving.
“It will be
fantastic to see how businesses use the intellectual
property that comes out of – we can see that
businesses who are providing challenges for the competition
are already thinking ahead in terms of implementing the
solutions that will be identified. We know that similar
events in other locations have led to service contracts and
the establishment of new business entities. We are looking
forward to seeing the fresh ideas that come out of
.”People who are interested in
participating in can register their interest at
www.hacknelson.nz and can come along to
the free launch event on 5 October to hear the business
problem pitches presented by the region’s primary industry
companies. Event details:
Launch Event
– event introduction and businesses problem
pitches
Thursday, 5 October from 5:30pm
Creative
Industries Building Atrium, G Block, NMIT
Free
entry
Main Event Weekend
Creative Industries Building
Atrium, G Block, NMIT
Friday, 10 November 4pm
onwards
Saturday 11 November and Sunday, 12 November 8am
onwards
Tickets can be purchased at
https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/hacknelson-tickets-38100930910
Developers,
designers and businesspeople - $99
Students with
qualifying tertiary ID - $49
ENDS
About
: is a non-profit event sponsored
by Datacom with the vision of creating a stronger
professional innovation network and unlocking hidden
opportunities for our established local primary industry
businesses. Over the course of the weekend the teams will
design and prototype a solution (usually software based),
hone their understanding of a business opportunity, and then
present a winning pitch. On completion of the 48-hour
weekend, teams will present their concepts and prototypes,
but are not required to produce a fully-implemented
solution. A judging panel will award first and second place
prizes. This is the inaugural event of its type in Nelson
Tasman but is modelled on a very successful Datacom event
that has run in Auckland for the past six years. The theme
for <> 2017 is adding value to our established
primary
industries.
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