Techathon
India is said to be the IT capital and home to the growth of information technology, but yet is the entire populace involved in this revolution? In spite of the growth of tech-based entrepreneurs and computing services in the country, are they yet accessible to low income communities? How can technology be made accessible and affordable for all? These are questions yet unanswered, but these are questions we intend to answer, through our hackathon.
Our proposal for a hackathon refers to a day-long event that serves to encourage a spirit of intellectual inquiry in the field of technology, through the use of competitions, workshops, and finally our highlight: an idea pitch contest. Our hackathon would serve a dual purpose: to provide a platform for awareness of computer technologies, and also to give an opportunity to low-income communities to get exposed to the field.
As part of the hackathon, we shall be organizing a variety of events, each linked to our broader agenda regarding the access to technologies. The events part of the 1-day hackathon are: IT Quiz, Firetalk, Coding Workshops, Ideathon and Programming Jam, along with guest speakers.
Our proposal for a school hackathon is deeply embedded in the creativity strand. Since we have been involved in the CAS Computers Club, this MAD Project serves as a means to continue our learning from our club in Year 11 into meaningful outcomes, as it involves us applying our skills related to programming syntax, idea development, etc., to make quiz problem sets and create judging criteria for the IT idea pitch, amongst other responsibilities.
Since the fundamental agenda or theme of our idea is the penetration of technologies in Indian society, our idea has a very strong service aspect, since it deals with the access to technology for underprivileged communities in the country, an issue for which the hackathon aims to draft technologydriven solutions through the Ideathon. In light of this agenda, we aim to tie up with several NGOs involved in the education sector, tentatively Akanksha Foundation and Muktangan, to have children from these NGOs attend special workshops that we organise to introduce and familiarize them with computing technologies. Moreover, all money raised from sponsorships and registration fees (after having deducted costs) would be donated to partner NGOs to help improve technologies in existing BMC schools being run by these organizations, by providing new computers, projectors and other equipment, over and above any monetary amount as required. Furthermore, our proposal is also in line with the CAS learning outcomes to be met through the project.
By organizing the school's first ever hackathon in a city that only has 1 other recognized/established hackathon running, we are venturing into unexplored territory, and hence “undertaking new challenges”. All members involved in this project would also be “developing new skills”, namely administrative skills, as we would be organizing an event from scratch. Our project also “engages with issu es of global importance”, since the access to technology and the grass-root penetration of computing technologies are important factors determining India's growth and development trajectory.
The theme for Techathon 2018 was social entrepreneurship. In this spirit, Techathon partnered with a number of Mumbai-based NGOs, in the hope that they might find some projects at the Ideathon relevant to advancing their goal. The NGOs that the school works with – including Akanksha, Muktangan, BJ Homes, Jai Vakeel, AdvItya, Aarambh and WSD - were contacted. The plan for every NGO was to help them adapt to as much technology as possible. The 'Akansha' NGO was chosen as it promotes education for underprivileged students in Mumbai, Pune and beyond. Muktangan creates and runs educational institutions for several low-income communities. BJ Homes provides housing and support to marginalized orphan children. The Jai Vakeel NGO provides shelter and education to students needing special care. Advitya provides lifestyle support for differently-abled adults to teach them life skills. Aarambh provides support and help to cancer patients currently undergoing treatment. The NGO called Welfare for Stray Dogs provides shelter and medical support to stray dogs that need care. By working with them, we had identified eight primary areas of need and opportunities for aspiring social entrepreneurs. It was an experience worth its weight in gold.
- Nakul Goenka