After the great success our teams had at last year's Ocean Hackathon, the dock.me team winning third place in the grand finala and the activities of the C-BRO team, the University of Split joined organizing the competition this year as well.
About the competition
Ocean Hackathon® is a 48-hour-long event in which teams have a unique opportunity to develop innovative ideas using digital data related to the sea and coastal area. The competition will be held this year November 5-7 on 5 continents and in 18 cities around the world.
Call for suggesting challenges, topics competitors will choose from, has just been opened, and you can do that until June 6. Competitors can expect a lot of teamwork, learning, fun, and the best can look forward to valuable prizes as well as participation in the grand finals to be held in December 2021 (depending on the epidemiological situation, live in Brest or online).
You can check out last year’s competition in a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTC4ED-7HVs&t=9s and read more on suggested challenges and experiences of the organizers and winning teams here: https://www.campusmer.fr/files/3367/OH5___dossier_de_presse___2021_01.pdf.
What is a challenge?
A challenge can be any user of the sea and coastal area’s idea or need. Also, it can be a project that is already in development, for which you need new expertise and knowledge you do not possess yourself.
Challenges in Ocean Hackhaton® are based on using available digital data. Digital data come in form of: nautical charts, photographs, legal aspects and maritime safety, cable locations, wrecks, buoys, tides, sea level, oceanographic forecasts, pollution, ecology, physical-chemical characteristics of the coastal area, maritime activities.
Who can propose a challenge?
All natural and legal persons (companies, scientific research organizations, higher education institutions, associations, students...) who have an idea or problem worth solving, that has to do with the sea and coastal area, can do that. Aim of the competition is to develop new products and services, test an innovative concept and share knowledge about seas and oceans.
How to suggest a challenge?
Challenges are submitted via the Ocean Hackathon® platform by filling out a short form in English. In the platform, you first need to select the city where you are suggesting the challenge: https://www.campusmer.fr/Hackathon-2021-4222-0-0-0.html, after which a new window opens where you select the option "I would like to propose a challenge in Split” and answer few short questions describing your idea and activities planned for the competition.
Challenges offered to Ocean Hackathon® competitors will be selected based on several criteria:
• Connection with the sea,
• Use of marine data,
• Originality and innovation,
• Connection with ocean sustainability,
• Consent of its owner to attend the final competition.
Person who suggests a challenge is its owner and in applying it he undertakes to be present at the competition. He can already have a formed team, or he can emphasize which expertise is he lacking, on the basis of which competitors will apply for participation in September.
The main organizer of the competition is University of Brest’s Campus Mondial de la Mer, and the University of Split’s Technology Transfer Office, with the support of the European Entrepreneurship Network, is organizing the competition in Split. For more information, contact the Technology Transfer Office by email: info@utt.unist.hr or calling: 021566 882.