Openhack Sthlm 2018!
Registration for OpenHack Stockholm is now open!
The hackathon, running from 30th November until 2nd December at Norrsken House, will require teams built from people with different areas of expertise, so don’t worry if programming isn’t your strongest suit yet. The theme for the event is as always humanitarian issues and contributing for a better cause.
Both participation and volunteering is open for registration. For more information and registration, visit the website at https://openhack-stockholm.confetti.events/
Hope to see you there!
Norrsken House
Registration is now open
This fall we are planning two amazing hackathons and the registration for OpenHack Gothenburg 2018 is now OPEN! The event will take place 2-4 November and is completely free!
Register now to make sure that you (or your team) have a place reserved for the hackathon!
Nordic startup awards
We are honored to be selected as a finalist in the Swedish National Finale of Nordic Startup Awards 2018 in Best Social Impact Startup.
Nordic Startup Awards is part of the Global Startup Awards and it is the biggest independent startup ecosystem competition. Its mission is to find, recognise and connect the future shapers of the digital age from all around the world. The Grand Finale will take place the 30th of October in Copenhagen.
To make it all the way we need your help, please vote for us here!
We are now a social company!
Since Openhack was founded in 2015 we have organized eight hackathons in five different cities. It is now time to take the next step: Openhack has now become a social company!
From now on the legal form is a limited company with profit distribution limitation, meaning all profit is reinvested into the business. This means we can scale up and organize better hackathons at numerous places, generating more creative ideas to the many humanitarian challenges humankind faces today. It also gives us the possibility to focus even more on implementing the existing solutions that have been developed over the years. To celebrate this we're doing a rebrand.
Check out our new logo and stay tuned for more exciting plans!
#codingforhumanity
@openhackC4H
National Finalist at Nordic Startup Award
OpenHack has become a national finalist at the Nordic Startup Awards and will attend the National Finale on September 4th at STHLM TECH FEST. The event will be packed with innovative minds and well-known startups, scale-ups, and VCs from all over Europe.
Read more about Nordic Startup Award at their Facebook event.
All challenges for OpenHack Uppsala released!
All three public case challenges for the upcoming OpenHack in Uppsala are now released - time to dig in, get creative and prepare!
If you are on of the heroes that are registered to participate this weekend, we encourage you to read the challenges ahead of the event, to get inspiration and start thinking about what problem you want to work on. The case contributors will all be present during Friday evening to present there case respectively. Representatives from each case contributor will also be available throughout the event to answer questions and to help verify your ideas.
Certainly, you are also welcome to work on a idea related to a similar problem or to present a idea/case of your own - it is all about creating valuable and innovation!
Official case contributors of OpenHack Uppsala 2017:
See you Friday! Hope you are as stoked as we are! We can't wait to see what you will come up with! /the OpenHack team
Interview: Johan Linåker, Founder of OpenHack
The upcoming OpenHack in Uppsala is closing in - and we can't wait! In the meantime, we caught up with OpenHack's founder Johan Linåker to ask a few questions about the concept and vision of the hack, as well as the Uppsala "JobTech"-theme. Interview below:
Johan Linåker, Founder of OpenHack.
Hi Johan! Why did you start OpenHack?
- When I joined Engineers Without Borders, there was no natural way for me to use my core skills as a software developer to contribute to humanitarian aid. By arranging a hackathon, we could bring techies like me together with humanitarian aid organizations, and collaborate on solving real world challenges with digital innovations. By also making the solutions open source, the ideas and prototypes that come out of the hackathon can be developed further by anyone who wishes, with the goals of gaining a bigger impact and wider reach.
Why would you say Open Source is so important?
- Open source software is free for anyone to use, modify, and redistribute. Due to this openness, the software can spread and involve people with a global reach, including all possible end-users, and also other developers, subject matter experts, and organizations.
Can you tell us how the theme JOBTECH was decided on?
- Gaining a job is an important part in the integration process and key for any newly arrived to entering and establishing themselves in society. Tech and digital solutions can help ease this process, not only for newly arrived but also for jobseekers in general. If we can help to match jobseekers and employers in a more efficient manner, as well as present them with the right opportunities, then we can make a difference for society as a whole!
Interview: Victor Axelsson, participant in OpenHack 2016 and winner of JobTech challenge form Arbetsförmedlingen
Need some JOBTECH-related inspiration for the upcoming hack in Uppsala? - We spoke to Victor, member of the winning team of the Arbetsförmedlingen case last year. The case specified the problem with matching job seekers with employers.
Victor Axelsson: at a seminar in Stockholm where Victor and his team presented there solution from OpenHack 2016.
Hi Victor! What was your solution on the case?
– Our solution was Jobsweeper. The base consists of a graph database and a recommendation engine. Then we built an Android app and a web app. In the Android app, the user swipes for jobs suggested by the recommendation engine and in that way the job ads are quickly filtered out. Through the web app, they employer receive feedback on their ads. We also identified other problems we saw in Arbetsförmedlingens services.
The app has advantages for both job seekers and employers, since job seekers invest less time in searching and applying for jobs and the employers get better feedback on their ads. By reviewing the feedback they get insights into which ads that work and which don’t, which ultimately helps them in how to better reach out to the job seekers. There’s also advantages for Arbetsförmedlingen as they get better statistics on job searching and vacancy history. It’s a win win win situation.
What did your work process look like? What was your biggest challenge?
– We brainstormed the case and presented our different ideas, then we criticised each others ideas and finally we decided on what direction we wanted to take. We always tried to make sure everyone understood why and how, and that everyone thought it was a good decision. If someone didn’t approve of a decision we just continued with the discussion. We also took a quick meeting with the people from Arbetsförmedlingen and let them try out a very early demo app to hear their thoughts. With their feedback we could decide on our next step.
Have you been able to take your idea further?
– Yes, right now we’re on a break but there are some different openings for the project. Then we’ll see what opportunities Arbetsförmedlingen think there is.
What did you enjoy the most with the OpenHack?
– Meeting other people in the same industry. To do something fun with my friends and have a good weekend with a lot of programming and testing new frameworks.
Do you have any tips for this year's participants?
– Yes. Prepare before the event. Look up the sponsors and their histories. Go through all the cases in advance. Make up an abstract plan before the hack and make sure everyone in the group shares it.
Don’t do a live pitch, record one instead as live demos easily drag out on time. Opt for a good presentation and say that they can test themselves afterwards. It takes away the stress from that actual pitch, since no one in history has ever managed to do a good live demo of an app built by five persons who haven’t slept for 48h.
Keep in mind that you rarely get the opportunity to test the new cool frameworks on customers in a real project. Take this opportunity to test everything you want. Just make sure you get your head around the case before the hack, so you don’t have to start from scratch and learn too much on spot.
But above all, make sure to have great fun. When you have fun and get into a good flow you’re usually at your best.
And finally, how many cans of jolt cola did you guys consume during the weekend?
– Haha, not that many on my part since I rarely drink soda. But I definitely had a few cubic metres of coffee.
OpenHack Uppsala 2017, theme: JobTech
OpenHack is back, and this time in Uppsala!
Join us the first weekend of June and code for humanity.
Are you a skilled coder or a passionate problem solver? Do you have an idea or a solution on a humanitarian problem? If the answer to these questions is yes, this is the event for you. During 48 hours, hackers from all over Sweden will gather to take on the different challenges our evolving society faces.
The theme for this hackathon will be: JobTech! - How can technical solutions and software be used to create the labor market of tomorrow? How can technology be used to create a more open and inclusive application process, available for everyone? How can we apply new tools that leverage existing data, for the purpose of a labor market free of discrimination and unjust methods? Join us to work on one of the most central challenges of our time - from both a local as well as a global perspective!
Openhack is open for everyone, so spread the news to all your friends. We will continuously post cases and updates here on the blog – make sure to keep an eye out!
In the meantime, let us introduce the Openhack 2017 project group:
Project Manager: Nike Hiller
Project Developer: Karin Johansson
Partner Coordinator: Lisbet Ersson
Participant Coordinator: Elin Swedin
Event Coordinator: Axel Iveroth
Social Media & PR Manager: Hedvig Sylwan
Technical Manager: Krzysztof Jagiello
Art Director: Johan Törngren
Want to know more?
Please check out the event website for more information and to register!
You can also attend the event on Facebook, to let your friends know that you are going!
We hope you’re just as excited as we are!