Sign Up for the Hackathon!
Guests / Curious observers / Donors Sign up: http://bit.ly/Buest_signup - if you want to support or contribute to HVTechFestHackathon
Anyone can sign up for the Hackathon. We welcome all ages and all levels of expertise. We will be creating teams consisting of a diverse range of talents and skills.
We are looking forward to see professional developers, high school and college students. Non-developers are welcomed too.
We'll encourage you to form mixed teams of professionals and non-professionals, high-tech and low-tech functions and roles.
You can join as a team, form professional teams or pair with the youth to help them building their next big thing!
The Social Distancing’ that occurred in response to the pandemic as the "new normal" became a huge challenge in many aspects: We miss our friends, we can't freely travel, we got distracted with our remote learning and working.
The digital divide is defined as the gap between those who have access to broadband, devices, and digital skills training — and those who do not. How can we improve remote learning and remote working in this “new normal” of social distancing? How can we help those who are not privileged enough to have the same opportunities due to the digital divide that COVID-19 has made ever more obvious?
Black teens and those from low-income households are also more likely to be affected by the “digital homework gap.” Since the shutdown of schools in March, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed how many families lack at-home internet access. National statistics show us:
The unemployment rate has tripled since the shutdown.
In areas where workforce development centers and libraries are closed, disadvantaged people don't have access to computers and broadband. This means many are unable to find new jobs. To make matters worse, they may not even have a digital resume.
Digital literacy skills are essential for access to jobs and economic wellbeing. For instance, jobseekers need to be able to demonstrate the digital skills for 90 percent of all jobs today. However, 67 percent of English language learners (ELLs) report no or limited basic digital skills. Due to COVID-19, existing supports (which were already insufficient) are completely blocked.
These skills are critical to economic, educational, and personal resilience. There is a need to address the digital divide now. We need to act.
Friday, October 23
Introductions and Kickoff - 2:00 - 2:30 PM
Design Thinking warm up - 2:30 - 3:15 PM
Idea Pitching, Teams forming - 3:30 - 4:30 PM
Talk Time for Sponsors - 4:30 - 5:00 PM
Begin Hacking - 5:00 PM
Saturday, October 24
Cease Hacking, Submit Projects - 1:45 PM
Intro and Welcome Judges - 2:00 - 2:15 PM
Demos and Presentations - 2:15 - 4:30 PM
Judge Deliberation - 4:30 - 5:00 PM
Award Ceremony - 5:00 PM
Participant InformationMentor InformationJudges Information
To enhance HVTechFest 2021 Hackathon, we want to hear your thoughts and proposals. What challenge triggers YOU?
We’re looking for ideas for collaborative team challenges that will inspire our community to use technology, data, and design for the public good. Submit Your Idea, Find Your Team
Educators, students, designers, developers, social workers, business specialists, and anyone else interested in developing a solution is encouraged to co-create this fantastic event!
The HVTechFest 2019 was a seven-hour brainstorming and idea-development competition to solve critical regional issues such as:
The Hackathon revealed how the youth are driven to solve Hudson Valley employability and professional sustainability challenges. We were excited to see that we are all aligned in our dream of making the Hudson Valley a better place to live and work, and leveraging technology as a practical tool for this rising tide! We applied the following approach: