I am new to a hackathon. What is it and how does it work?
Garage48 hackathon is a bulletproof format, where ideas get built into prototypes with teamwork and mentoring support. EU:Africa The Post Crisis Journey will be a 72-hour hackathon. The organizing team guides you through all the steps of the hackathon from idea submission to mentoring and final presentations to the jury for selecting winners. The best ideas are selected on December 7 and Garage48 team will send a letter to all the chosen teams with complete instructions on how the hackathon process will look like. We will let everyone who didn’t make it know as well. Follow the event information and agenda for idea submission: https://www.euafricathejourney.com/2020/
What kind of ideas are expected?
We’re welcoming ideas aimed at solving the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis and its socio-economic aftermath. The intent of this hackathon is to develop ideas that are prototypeable in 72-hours which could help solve the crisis. 11 challenge areas tackled in this program are put together in collaboration with African Union and Smart Africa and are in line with the Africa-Europe Digital Economy Partnership Report and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Education ⎮ Food security ⎮ Job Security ⎮ Vulnerable Populations ⎮ Health & Wellness ⎮ Financial Services ⎮ Big Data ⎮ Cyber Security ⎮Smart Cities⎮Job Security ⎮ Financial Services ⎮ Cyber Security⎮ Digital Economy ⎮ e-Governance⎮ Smart Cities
How can I participate?
1) Click “Participate” at the hackathon platform and sign up or sign in with your social media profile. You do not need a password- an email address is enough and the sign in link will be e-mailed to you https://eventornado.com/event/eu-africa-the-post-crisis-journey#home
2) Look at the challenges click “Post Idea” to submit your idea to the hackathon
Watch the Participant Video Tutorial of Eventornado if you are still struggling with what to do!
What is the absolute deadline to submit my idea?
The absolute final deadline to submit your idea is 5th of December, 23:59pm GMT +2.
Can I join if I’m not a developer, UX/UI designer or an engineer?
YES! Only with visionaries and idea owners and experts from all the various fields this crisis is affecting, can we truly fight the pandemic. Whether you come from healthcare, education, social services or any other field – we need your ideas and your expertise!
Can I submit several ideas?
We strongly suggest you to choose one idea and prepare your idea submission and team as thoroughly as possible – do research, talk to people, involve additional experts to your team and make a plan for what you’re gonna build in the 72 hours.
Can I submit an idea as an individual?
Yes, of course, all the ideas are signed up by individuals, you have to add your team members later to your idea, to form a team. If you know you are missing some needed roles to work with your idea during the hackathon, we strongly advise you to put your network to work and find the missing skill-set and expertise. While we let you sign up your idea as an individual participant, if your idea gets chosen, you have to put together a team before being able to compete at the hackathon (see also rules for team submission).
Matchmaking agenda 5/12
During the matchmaking session on the 5th of December!
Idea owners pitch their idea in a 90-second format and individual participants listen and ask questions afterward.
During the 90-second pitch:
👩🎤 Introduce yourself and your idea.
🤯 What problem does your team solve?
🏄♂️ What is your solution to the problem? What’s special about it? What do you plan to build during the hackathon?
🌈What impact will this idea have on the problem you’re solving
👨👩👧👦Who do you need in your team?
After each pitch, you are allowed to ask a couple of questions and then we move on to the next pitch. We have a moderator joining us for each of the sessions who helps you to follow the timeline. As an individual participant, if you understand that you would care about other topics that are happening in parallel more deeply, please move on to the next Zoom meeting (all the links posted below)
During the matchmaking sessions, please exchange each other’s contact details- an email address, that you have signed up or you will use to sign up on Eventornado! That way idea owners can add you as contributors to their idea on Eventornado (as an individual participant you have to accept their invitation)! Please exchange each other’s contacts over the private messaging function on Zoom!
After the matchmaking sessions, please submit your new members to your idea on Eventornado, information on how to do that can be found in FAQ or on the “General” channel or on Slack!
Idea owners- if you do not have a team with all the skill-sets ready after the first matchmaking session, please join the second matchmaking session on the 5th of December. Individual participants- if you cant find a team to join during the first matchmaking session, please join the second matchmaking session on the 5th of December.
AGENDA for December 5! (PS! Times are all in Central African Time, GMT +2)
12:00 – 12:45
LIVE BROADCASTED WEBINAR: Matchmaking Session #2 Kickoff + Q&A! Get to know how the hackathon is going to look like and what to expect from the matchmaking sessions! Use this opportunity to ask your questions!
Watch the live on:
https://www.facebook.com/euafricathejourney/live/
13:10-14:10
Education
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84550185132?pwd=WHhOazVUZnRqQUNEM0lER0E4VFdzdz09
Food Security
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83475779317?pwd=Tlg3MXFnQUVGRzRyeENpaThrcXREQT09
Job Security
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81506296629?pwd=MkJvMXIra2N1TTFuMzNHOWEvT05yQT09
14:30-15:30
Vulnerable Populations
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84331695867?pwd=b0tENGVZS2VWTzJYdlNVbzIvWjVhdz09
Health& Wellness
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83188977326?pwd=K2NlUjNnZVk1V3FUQUJLa1hqRlNGZz09
Financial Services
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81798831509?pwd=T2tndHB3cXR2N1hrZXVRbkkrRDlQdz09
15:50-16:50
Big Data
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85401245494?pwd=eDVPNXZlMTlzQUVKanVNNWc5LzFNZz09
Cyber Security
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82587422463?pwd=T21mZG9wcVI0cTBRWThiSTBEM0FIZz09
Digital Economy
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81698735354?pwd=RE5wL2hnV3FvOXFLTnRadjY1UHpCZz09
17:00-18:00
e-Governance
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84828559664?pwd=TXZET2FYYkRTVVMvN2l5ZFRFOTBmdz09
Smart Cities
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87155548602?pwd=NXN2eFR1TDFHSUgrcHZTR09xYmdIQT09
Rules for team submission
The minimum number of the participants in the team is 3. The maximum number of the team members is ten. While we let you sign up your idea as an individual participant, if your idea gets chosen, you have to put together a team before being able to compete at the hackathon. The rules to submit the team are following:
Each team should consist of
- Idea owner who will take the role of the team lead (coordinating, project management)
- Developer
- Designer (UX/UI)An engineer, if an idea execution requires it (optional)
More important than the rules given by us, is for you to make sure that all the skills that are necessary to turn your idea into a prototype during the 72 hours are covered. Please note that all the team members have to register on the hackathon as individuals as well only after that they can be added to an existing team.
How will I submit my team on Eventornado?
There are 2 main ways:
- if you have an idea, and you know someone who wants to join, you can invite them to join your idea (team) via e-mail on the Eventornado platform. This person who receives the email has to click on the e-mail and accept your invitation and boom, you have a new team member on Eventornado.
- All the ideas are public at the moment! Everyone who has registered for the event can click on your idea and hit “Apply to join”. Then an idea owner gets a notification about it and can either accept it or decline it. If you do not have a team ready yet, dont worry, you can definitely find new people on the matchmaking sessions on the 28th of Nov and 5th of Dec and on Slack! Happy networking
When do you announce the teams that will compete at the hackathon on the 10-13 of December?
After you submit your team and your idea, the selected team of mentors will go over each application one by one. We will announce the top 150 teams that will enter the competition on December 7!
How does team formation happen if I’m applying as a solo participant?
If you are a solo applicant at the time of the idea submission, start working on gathering a team with needed expertise to build your idea into a prototype. Put your own, your friends & family, colleagues networks to use to gather your team. We will also have two online matchmaking sessions on November 28 and December 5, where you will be able to meet with other teams and participants to put together a team. Links will be shared on the event’s Facebook page, so make sure to follow that for most up-to-date news!
How can I update my idea submission?
You can update it anytime before the 15th of November on Eventornado. After that, we will start evaluating ideas. We will evaluate your idea submission once. Put as much thought and effort into your idea submission as possible – do research, talk to people, involve additional experts to your team and make a plan for what you’re gonna build in the 72 hours.
What are the evaluation criterias for my idea?
- Proposed problem matches with the topic and problem is specific enough to be tackled at the hackathon.
- Description of the solution is clear and solves the problem well.
- The solution has a potential for big impact and the possibility to make a real change in its beneficiaries lives.
- Team is formed and includes all required skills.
Who will own my idea?
Developed product’s IP remains the property of the team, who is participating in the program. If any outside party (investors, other companies, governmental organizations) wishes to proceed and acquire the prototype developed during the hackathon, a mutual agreement must be reached and an agreement between both parties must be signed about the IP. The organizers, partners and sponsors of the program will not take over any rights or equity in the ideas at the hackathon. The team will agree among themselves on who owns what part of the idea.
If my idea doesn’t get chosen, will I be able to join a selected team?
If you do not feel like you can get a team together around your idea, you are more than welcome to browse other deas and choose a team whose ideas you relate to the most. You can contact the team leads in Eventornado by chatting up with them under each idea. We will also facilitate two online matchmaking sessions on November 28 and December 5, where you will be able to meet with other teams and participants to put together a team.
What kind of tools will I need to use at the hackathon?
The main communication channel of the hackathon will be Slack. All the selected teams are invited to join the #euafricathejourney Slack group latest on December 7. We recommend downloading the Slack app to both- to your smartphones and computers and allow the notifications. Slack will be the place for important hackathon workflow announcements, the place for communication with your team and a good way to connect with the mentors.
Download Slack for your
Second important tool will be Zoom. We will run the webinars and checkpoints via Zoom and share the links with you over Slack.
Download Zoom for your
Prizes
🏆🏆PRIZES!🏆🏆
Winner 20 000€
2nd place 15 000€
3rd place 10 000€
4th place 5000€
5th place 5000€
6th place 2000€
7th 2000€
8th 2000€
9th 2000€
10th 2000€
Plus: 3000€ for each of the category winners!
20 best teams will continue in the post-hackathon acceleration program!
What happens after the hackathon?
- 15th of January- teams meet with possible stakeholders from public and private sector over the online matchmaking event.
- Pre-acceleration program for the 25 best teams . Fully online, and last up to 8 weeks. The goal of the online pre-accelerator is to understand the objectives of each team, also the individual challenges each team faces.
- We are still in the process of putting together a 6-month long acceleration program for the best teams, which goal is to help the teams to turn their prototypes into products and implement them on the market. The program will be put together by both African and European experts.