Technology

Hackathon Guide 2020: Learn All About Hackathon Events

Published

4 years ago

01/02/2021

What is a “Hackathon”?

All across the world, hackathons are hosted by both corporations and students who are passionate about technology, education, and building.

Even absolute beginners can get involved – I, myself, got hooked on Computer Science while attending my first hackathon with no prior experience.

Contrary to what the name suggests, hackathons don’t involve “hacking.” Conversely, hackathons are make-a-thons that take place over the span of a few days. During the event, creative, motivated people of all backgrounds, ages, and experience levels come together to turn their ideas into reality.

Though the word “hack” implies breaking into systems and possibly doing something illegal, the “hack” in a hackathon refers to the project itself. Projects can segue from idea to actualization within as little as 24 hours. In this sense, the “hack” is a newly fleshed out idea – the code will not always be the cleanest, but it will provide insight as to how the idea can be further implemented.

Hackathon Term Disambiguation

Hackathon: A codefest where hacks are put together by hackers, a portmanteau of “hack” and “makeathon”
Hacking: “Hacking” is the action of putting a project together, not illegally breaking into systems
Hack: The “hack” is the project itself, ranging from a VR game to a machine-learning piano keyboard and beyond
Hackers: The term “hackers” refers to the hackathon’s attendees who are putting together projects

Learn Content for Hackathons

Many hackathons will host a series of workshops to kick off the event. There are workshops for those with no experience, as well as for experienced developers.

For example, VandyHacks at Vanderbilt University provides beginner introductions for topics such as web development and app building, but also offers more advanced topics, such as natural language processing and AR and VR usage. Many hackathons will also have mentors available throughout the event who can help participants with particular technologies and programming languages.

Hackathons are opportunities for communities to come together and bring their creative potential into expression. Learning from others is arguably the most fulfilling part of the process. The projects that come out of hackathons are manifestations of the ability for anybody, from any background, to build and create. The events themselves are a great way to learn how to code and how to develop ideas outside of the classroom.

Prepare for Hackathons

Experience is not required to participate and excel at hackathons. Many winners of previous hackathons have been teams that were composed of first-time hackers from varying schools.

Last year at VandyHacks, the grand prize winner was a hardware-based hack that was able to track where people were in a store through sound data. Even more impressive than the hack was the winners’ backgrounds: none of them knew each other before attending VandyHacks, proving they were a truly “hacked” together team.

Picking up some of the aforementioned skills, as well as acquiring foundational experience and securing app ideas could help anybody looking to rapidly ramp up at any future hackathon.

People do not necessarily have to come with ideas, but they should come prepared to learn, meet people, and build! Hackathons are all about connecting with people in a space where interaction is typically mediated over digital communication.

Form Teams at a Hackathon

There is no need to come to a hackathon with a predetermined team. While it’s arguably easier to start working together if you already know your team, hackathons are all about diverse, new people, of different backgrounds, combining their ideas to create something they like. As a result, hackathons typically host brainstorming and team-finding sessions that simultaneously help people begin work on projects and match up groups of people.

For example, a team with an idea to form a web application that helps people manage their pet needs might need a “backend” or a “frontend” team member. The backend is essentially the bulk of where the application does its calculations. The frontend is the appearance of a web app and is responsible for connecting the results of the backend to the rest of the app in a way that it’s accessible for users.

Not everybody needs to know how to program to make a successful project. In fact, diverse backgrounds are excellent for making a team. A hackathon team made up of graphic designers, project managers, or other titles can definitely be successful.

Our aforementioned hypothetical team may be really passionate about creating a database about pet needs to quickly connect users to the information they need, but is unsure of how they want to design or display it.

This team would need a frontend person to program the visual side to make their app easy to read and access. It could very well be the other way around, as well – the team may have a great design in mind but needs someone that’s more passionate and skilled in writing the backend. Hackathons are all about learning new things and trying on new hats. In the suit, it is common to form teams of people from different backgrounds simply to experiment with new roles.

Cool Projects that Come Out of Hackathons

Hackathons can be data visualizations, games, teaching tools, and applications that solve problems. Some apps that I’ve personally seen offer free eye tests using machine learning and computer vision, music games, and hardware to enhance businesses.

Others software projects include social media mobile apps designed for both Android and iOS operating systems. Innovation is embedded throughout technology, and hackathons are manifestations of creative energy.

Hackathons are sometimes themed towards a specific goal, such as open-source or social good. These types of projects often aim to solve a problem in the world, benefiting others through technology. Other hackathons, such as those hosted by video game companies, are meant for people who are passionate about a certain product and wish to improve it.

Devpost has many projects that were submitted to hackathons across the world. Many of these projects are open-sourced on GitHub, a platform for coders to make their code visible for anyone to see. Here, you can see the results of peoples’ creativity, energy, and time during a hackathon.

Other Activities at Hackathons

There are tons of mini-events that organizers create for their attendees. From karaoke to scavenger hunts, there are plenty of things to do other than hack!

People at hackathons are the best resources to understand the variety of activities that the hackathon provides. Other attendees are oftentimes excellent resources for those of you who are aspiring careers in the Computer Science field, simply looking to debug particularly tricky bits of code, and also wish to make friends and mentors.

What Makes a Successful Hackathon?

Learning! Producing just a minimum viable product, or MVP is an incredible achievement. MVPs are essentially a proof-of-concept of your idea and are used all the time in the actual software development process. Computer programmers are always making incremental changes, and hackathons are excellent ways to get initial knowledge about a topic in which people have interests.

Even after the event ends, the problem-solving techniques learned through debugging challenging problems amid hackathon projects can continue to be useful in fields beyond and beyond computer programming.

Tips for Your First Hackathon

Don’t stress!
Ask people for help. Organizers, mentors, and sponsors are all here to help you succeed. After all, everybody was in the same beginner state at some point.
Google anything and everything, and feel free to use Wikipedia! Oftentimes, someone else will have had the exact same problem at some point in life, and it’s probably on StackOverflow
Have fun!

What Do You Bring?

Laptop
Mobile devices
Chargers
Water bottle
Headphones
Pillow
Sleeping bag (certain hackathons have a sleeping room and/or provide sleeping bags)

Hackathon Logistics

Hackathons can be anywhere from local universities, high schools, and corporations to purely virtual spaces.

Typically, hackathons are completely free! The spirit of hackathons is to provide everybody with a shot at making whatever they want. Food, swag, and prizes are all at no cost to hackers. The only potential costs are transportation to the hackathon, though many hackathons offer travel reimbursements, as well.

Organize a Hackathon

If there are no hackathons in the surrounding region, the best move for you may be to organize a hackathon! Several organizations help new budding hackathons in the form of funding, workshops, and assistance.

For a comprehensive guide that breaks down all of the portions that we couldn’t cover in this article, check out this step-by-step hackathon guide. There’s tons of information on how to attract sponsorship, how to cultivate a community, and prepare potential attendees for hackathons.

Get started and good luck!

This article originally appeared on junilearning.com.

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Technology

Interswitch Supports Push for Vibrant Digital Ecosystem in Africa

Published

3 days ago

10/01/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

One of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, Interswitch, has expressed its commitment to promoting a vibrant digital ecosystem on the continent.

The Nigerian fintech firm reaffirmed this by supporting the recently concluded Google Developer Groups (GDG) DevFest Ibadan, Oyo State.

The flagship conference, which held at the Aweni Arena in Ibadan, brought together developers, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders for a dynamic day of knowledge sharing, networking, and exploration of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and mobile app development.

Now in its fifth edition, DevFest Ibadan has grown in scale and impact over the years, attracting thousands of attendees from across Oyo State and beyond.

Participants enjoyed a variety of engaging activities, including thought-provoking talks, hands-on workshops, and hackathons designed to inspire innovation and foster collaboration.

Interswitch said it threw its full weight behind this programme because of its unwavering commitment to advancing Nigeria’s technology landscape and nurturing the next generation of innovators.

“At Interswitch, we recognise the pivotal role developers and tech communities play in driving innovation across the continent.

“Sponsoring GDG DevFest Ibadan 2024 aligns perfectly with our mission to equip these communities with the tools, platforms, and opportunities they need to innovate, collaborate, and succeed.

“We are committed to promoting a vibrant ecosystem that accelerates Africa’s digital transformation while nurturing the next wave of innovators shaping the future of fintech in Nigeria and beyond,” the Divisional Head for Growth Marketing (Merchants and Ecosystems) at Interswitch, Mr Olawale Akanbi, said.

In her presentation, a Developer Ecosystem Executive at Interswitch, Ms Elizabeth Okaome, highlighted the company’s robust suite of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and their use cases, supported with live demos.

Cutting across payments integration, transfers, bill payments and airtime recharge, identity verification or lending services, Interswitch APIs equip developers with tools to enable secure and seamless online and offline payment acceptance).

Another highlight at the event was the introduction of the Quickteller Business Referral Programme, also known as the ‘5 for 5’ Initiative, which offers developers or any referrer an opportunity to earn 5% commission on Interswitch’s share of every transaction charge, for five whole years, while enabling businesses to thrive.

Technology

Nigerians to Know New Tariffs for Calls, Data, SMS Today

Published

4 days ago

10/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian will today, Friday, January 10, 2025, know what they will henceforth pay to make calls, send SMS, and browse the internet as telecommunication operators have received the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to raise tariffs.

This will bring an end to the long-term tussle for a hike in tariffs, which telcos wanted to be at 100 per cent, but the Nigerian government rejected.

Industry sources have shared with the media that the new tariffs will be announced by the NCC on Friday.

on Wednesday, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijan, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, said the NCC would come up with modalities for tariff adjustment in the telecoms industry.

“We’ve look at a number of things in terms of how to ensure that can meaningfully contribute to the development of Nigeria.

“Some of those things include implementing the Executive Order around ensuring that we can protect infrastructure around telecoms, driving up significantly local content and importantly, ensuring the sustainability of the companies themselves that as we see inflation across the world that telecommunications companies, we don’t run them down but we allow them to continue to be sustainable so that they can contribute to our economy.

“You have seen over the past weeks that there has been agitation from some of these companies to increase tariffs, requesting for 100 per cent tariff increase. This is not something that as a government we will be able to subscribe to at the minute,” he stated.

Recently, the chief executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, said in an interview that although operators have put forward the 100 per cent suggestion, he doubts that the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), would accept.

“Now, we’ve put forward requests of approximately 100 per cent and type increases to the regulators,” he said.

The operators have also said the sustainability of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria needs to be addressed, if not, it could negatively impact Nigeria’s economy.

Mr Toriola’s counterpart at Airtel, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, in an op-ed published by this newspaper said it was needed to acquiesce to the proposed tariff adjustments in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector while unlocking significant benefits for Nigerian consumers.

“For over a decade, tariffs have remained static despite the dramatic increase in operating expenses, which have surged by over 300% in the last 18 to 24 months alone,” he wrote.

Technology

FG Rejects Proposed 100% Tariff Hike in Call, Data Services by Telcos

Published

4 days ago

09/01/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The prices of calls, data and others will not be increased by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Nigeria by 100 per cent as being proposed, the federal government has assured citizens.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, after a meeting with the operators on Wednesday in Abuja, however, said Nigerians should expect to pay more for call and data services very soon to keep the operators afloat, especially due to rising cost of doing business in the country.

The telcos had asked the government for permission to increase tariffs by 100 per cent because the current rates were no longer sustainable.

The chief executives of two of the leading operators in Nigeria, MTN and Airtel, said they would want tariffs to be raised by 100 per cent to guarantee qualify service delivery.

Operators in the sector had warned that if the rates were not raised by the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), they may begin to ration their services across the nation to remain in business.

“You have seen over the past weeks that some of these companies have been agitated to increase tariffs. They are requesting a 100 per cent tariff increase.

“But it will not be by 100 per cent; the NCC will soon come up with a clear directive on how we will go about it.

“We want to strike the balance as a government, to protect our people, but also protect and ensure that these companies can continue to invest significantly,” Mr Tijani said yesterday.

“As a country, over time, we have left these investments in the hands of the private sector. They typically invest where they can see returns in the short to medium term.

“We will not want this conversation to just be about tariff increase. What the world is talking about today is meaningful connectivity; people want to have access to quality service.

“A part of it that the consumers may not be aware of is the investment that needs to go into the infrastructure that is used to deliver these services,” he noted.

On his part, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Mr Aminu Maida, said, “We have looked at all of these factors, and that is why, as the Minister said, it is not likely that we are going to approve a 100 per cent tariff increase.

“I know that Nigerians are agitated to hear the exact percentage approved. We are still going through some stakeholder engagements, but you will hear from us within a week or two.”

“We are moving away from the regime where you will have a main rate, then you will now have a bonus which is at a different rate.

“It makes it often complicated and difficult for Nigerians to actually understand what they are being charged for. There is this agitation that the MNOs are stealing our data,” he added.