The largest annual hackathon will be held in April Friday, 19th – Saturday, 21st, at the Great Hall of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi with over 600 student developers from 18 tertiary institutions. The event will address the topic: "Can Blockchain Technology Transform the Service Industry in Ghana?" 

Hacklab Foundation picks a theme based on trending discussions/issues in technology that need addressing from grassroots engagement as they are the relevant stakeholders to every high-level decision made at the government and corporate level. This year they will be discussing and developing solutions using blockchain technology.

The objective of this year’s hackathon is to increase the number of blockchain developers and grow local use cases of blockchain technology to address existing challenges in the Ghanaian service industry.

 In an interview with the Founder & President, Foster Awintiti Akugri, he said: “Blockchain Technology has exhibited great potential to address the issues around trust, transparency and accountability and democracy as quoted in the book titled: 4^th Industrial Revolution, authored by Professor Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum as the “technology of trust”. I believe that Africa’s cancer de corruption and transparency can be addressed by Blockchain Technology. Through this year’s hackathon, we also hope to grow the number of blockchain developers and use cases for Africa through the hackathon as we've championed in the previous years with Financial Inclusion, E-Commerce and IoT.”

The Hackathon challenge will task participants to develop solutions to address problems in the Education, Agriculture, Energy, Tax, Financial Service, Healthcare, Transportation and Logistics Sector using Blockchain Technology.

There are so many opportunities for the participants including 10 award categories with a total  of GHC12,000.00 in cash prizes to be won, on-spot internships and job recruitments and investment opportunities to scale solutions that emerge from the hackathon challenge. Other perks will also be awarded to winning teams including IBM Cloud Credits, Google Cloud Credits, RingCaptcha Credits, Start-up branding opportunities for the top 10 teams, etc. Winning teams will also get the opportunity to participate in the Hacklab-GSBS Start-up School, a 6-week pre-incubation program to further develop their solutions.

The Hacklab Foundation is a non-for-profit organization, established since September 2015 in Ghana, focused on preparing the youth for future jobs, by helping them develop their skills through hackathons and bootcamps, connecting them to industry through internships and breeding entrepreneurs through mentorship and incubation, who create jobs for others. The Foundation has impacted over 4000 people since its inception and will reach over 100,000 people by 2021 through its partnership with IBM on the National Digital Skills Training Program. Learn more the Foundation here: www.hacklabgh.org

"We Code Too" Travel Grant for Women

As part of the Hacklab Foundation’s objective to increase women participation at the Hackathon, they have partnered Yielding Accomplished Africa Women (YAAW), a finance and technology accelerator for women providing a yearlong program in which female college students complete an intensive educational course in finance/technology, leadership development, branding and professional etiquette. The partnership will provide travel grants for up to 20 ladies living outside Kumasi to participate in the Hackathon. To apply visit: https://goo.gl/forms/RoUV4KkR6FRoSbip1

 

How to Register for the Hackathon

Download the official event App Hacklab Connect available on

Google Play Store: https://goo.gl/zoXYNM

Apple’s Appstore: https://goo.gl/ok1Djb

Or visit website via: www.connect.hacklabgh.org

Participating schools include Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Technical University, Ho Technical University, Ghana Telecommunication University College, Koforidua Technical University, Central University, Ashesi University, Christian Service University College, University of Development Studies, Garden City University, Kessben University College, University of Ghana, Wisconsin International University College, Pentecost University College, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, Ghana and many more.

Hacklab 2018 is sponsored by Stanbic Bank Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, IBM and supported by NBU Hub, RingCaptcha, Africa’s Talking, Ninety3 Studios, Certified Ghana, Orios Group, Penta Global Foundation, Emerge, Playmud Consult, Emergent Africa, Yielding Accomplished African Women, Developers in Vogue, Global Shapers Community Kumasi Hub, Orientation Africa, Identity Ghana, ROOM63, College of Science-KNUST and the Computer Science Society-KNUST.

Media partners include: Ultimate FM, HyperActive Gh, Watsuptek, TechToday, Dartey Media, TechVoice Africa and Urban Avenue.

 

Follow Hacklab 2019 with the hashtag #hacklab2019 for live updates on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hacklabgh 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/hacklabgh

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/hacklabgh