Hackathon “InnoAirChallenge: Just Green transition and Urban Mobility”
Sofia Development Association (SDA), Sofia Municipality and DXC Technology launch a hackathon “InnoAirChallenge: Just Green transition and Urban Mobility”, the grand finale of which will be held live on November 11, 2022. The hackathon challenges participants to look for bold technological solutions that guide the vision for a next generation transport services and connectivity in Sofia.
If you are interested in sustainability technology and innovation, and if you have ideas that can improve our urban environment, take part in the hackathon with a team of 2 to 5 persons in order to propose solutions for cleaner mobility and environment. The team of SDA and DXC Technology will guide you and mentor you throughout the process – from the registration to the submission of the final project and the presentation before the jury. The three ideas with the highest scores will be awarded total financing of 15,000 BNG (7,500 Euro) provided by DXC Technology, to further develop and implement the solutions.
DXC Technology is a global leader in the area of IT services with over 130,000 employees worldwide and presence in over 70 countries. The company offers holistic IT solutions for digital transformations of its over 6,000 clients, over half of which are companies from the prestigious group of Fortune 500. In Bulgaria DXC Technology has offices in Sofia and Varna with 4,000 employees.
Since 2019 DXC has been reducing the CO2 footprint of its data centers, offices and other premises and has been committed to reach the emissions reduction for the entire company in accordance with the initiative Science Based Targets (SBTi). The short-term objective of the company is to reduce emissions by 55% by the second half of 2024.
DXC is committed to have a significant positive contribution to mitigating climate change and ventures into meaningful global and local initiatives to this end.
The hackathon finale will be held live on November 11 in the Launchee hub /https://www.launchee.space/ and will include events open to all – students, start-ups, professionals, and citizens. For teams, based outside of Sofia, an online presentation of projects will be arranged. A special award selected by the audience will be given, provided by SDA.
The hackathon is not a one-time event, it is part of a series in the framework of the INNOAIR project, co-funded by the ERDF through the initiative Urban Innovative Actions. Sofia is the first Bulgarian city selected to join the community of innovative European cities.
The hackathon is also part of the programme of EIT Climate - KIC Hub Bulgaria.
Why get involved?
1. The time for clean mobility and connectivity is now. The transport sector is responsible for 20% of СО2 emissions. In the light of the common goal for climate neutrality of Sofia by 2050, there are enormous opportunities for innovation in this area.
2. Network for future growth. A significant part of the hackathon aims to bring together the community working in the sphere of mobility and technology, so join and find relevant partners, mentors and companies.
3. Further development of your idea. The hackathon is just the beginning. Validate your idea here, and later EIT Climate - KIC Hub Bulgaria , Sofia Municipality, Sofia Urban Mobility Center can help you further develop your idea and even apply into practice in controlled urban testing environment.
What are the challenges?
• Mobility as a service
Mobility as a service is increasingly present in European cities. However, how many different apps and ways of payment can we install and support on our mobile devices? Can we improve the service and make its use easier, to aggregate payments, renting, sharing, reporting problems and other important components for diverse transport service suppliers?
• Next generation urban public transport stops and routes
Public transport is the backbone of urban mobility. But are the routes and stops up to this challenge? We invite hackathon participants to consider the functions and the just distributions of routes and stops in Sofia, keeping in mind factors like number of residents, public transport use, air quality and others.
• Easier and smart parking
The blue and green parking zones regulate and reduce the number of parked cars in downtown Sofia. However, finding a free parking spot often becomes more difficult, linked with driving around, creating traffic and producing emissions. How can we know where the nearest free parking spots are? How to envision where the next gren zone would be introduced? We invite new ideas how to collect, select and use relevant information and data through crowd sourcing and Internet of Things (IoT).
• Engaging citizens with transport decision-making
How to make sure the transport solutions meet the needs and expectations of the citizens? What efficient ways for feedback can we use to regulate and further develop Sofia urban mobility?
What are the awards for the winners?
8 000 BGN
first prize
5 000 BGN
second prize
2 000 BGN
third prize
The awards are provided by DXC Technology, the biggest IT company in Bulgaria.
The company works in different business spheres with diverse and innovative technologies – Cloud computing, Security, Applications, Analytics and Big Data, Digital Transformation and others.
The mission of the company is to assist its clients on their road to IT innovations and to accompany their transformation in the digital future.
1 000 BGN
audience award
The additional audience award is provided by Sofia Development Association.
PROGRAMME:
17 October, 2022 Hackathon launch
4 November, 2022 Deadline for teams registration
7 – 8 November, 2022 Individual mentorship
9 November, 2022 Online submission of final projects
10 November, 2022 Jury selects team-finalists
11 November, 2022 Live Finale: presentation of team-finalists before the jury and audience; award ceremony
JUDGES:
Kristian Krastev, Deputy Mayor for Transport, Sofia Municipality
Gencho Kerezov,
Deputy Mayor for Digitalization, Innovation and Economic Development, Sofia Municipality
Dimitar Dilchev, Director, Urban Mobility Center
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Georgiev, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Sofia University
Teodora Dacheva, Deputy Director of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria
Marin Troshanov, Regional Manager at DXC Technology, Bulgaria
Maria Sharkova, Director at DXC Technology
Mariyana Hamanova,
Co-chairperson at Cleantech Bulgaria
MENTORS
Ivan Nikolov, Director of the Transport Directorate, Sofia Municipality - Transport Policies and Data.
eng. Dimitar Petrov, Director of Traffic Management and Analysis Directorate, Sofia Municipality - Transport Networks, Traffic Analysis
Metodi Avramov, Director of the Directorate "Strategies, Innovations and New Technologies and International Projects", Sofia Urban Mobility Centre - Tariffing, Marketing, Intermodality, Transport Data Analysis
Todor Ivanov, Technical Lead, Senior Data Processing Engineer, DXC Technology
Victor Kalenderski, Technical Lead, Senior Data Processing Engineer, DXC Technology
Kristian Sandakchiev, Software Developer, DXC Technology
Miroslav Stefanov, Application Development Architect, DXC Technology
Yavor Gochev, Investment Manager, Innovation Capital
EVALUATION CRITERIA
• Applicability of the project: To whom and in what way does this project help? Does it solve a significant problem from practice? Is the topic relevant and applicable? Does anyone really need this project? 30%
• Content: Is it useful, interesting, and interactive, or does it duplicate existing sources? Are the texts, illustrations, and other multimedia elements of high quality and authentic? Is the content your own or copied from somewhere (unique quality content is valued more)? 20%
• Technical implementation: Have the appropriate technologies been used in the right way? Is there a good usability, intuitive user interface and user experience? Is there a good structure, layout and navigation? 30%
• Presentation and defense: Is the project presented attractively and convincingly during the defense? 20%
Technical requirements:
Laptops, software, hardware and other assets required for the project are provided by the participants. The technologies, programming languages and development tools are up to the participants. It is allowed to use open license platforms, all kinds of tools for graphic design, animation, video processing and hardware development, as well as all kinds of hardware devices: phones, tablets, microcontrollers, etc.
By registering, you agree and accept the General Rules for conducting the hackathon, which are published HERE.
Changes in the composition of the teams are allowed up to 12 hours after the start of the hackathon, but only after you have registered in advance. We are expecting you!
The registration is open until 4 November 2022.
