Now, a platform to help people organise hackathons

With the number of app developers growing and more and more institutes organising hackathons, a group of like-minded techies have joined hands to start a hackathon platform that makes it easy for people to conduct hackathons. The platform will have an online presence at hyderabadhackers.in.

The number of hackathons has gone up significantly in the city. The success of August Fest, the maiden hackathon held at the national level, reflects the mood. The app developers, small and big, are taking up the challenges to build apps relevant for users of different mobile operating systems.

“The Metropolis is the latest example. We are organising two parallel hackathons – one with the help of the Telangana Government and the Hyderabad municipal authorities – to develop apps to improve quality of life in urban areas,” Hyderabad Software Exporters’ Association President Ramesh Loganathan told Business Line.

“Seeing interest in the app developers, the number of hackathons is growing up. But hosting a hackathon is not something very easy. The platform would save them from the hassle,” he said.

HYSEA, Startup Weekends, Angel Hack, Devthons, Uptech Idea Labs, Null Hyderabad, Hyderabad Entrepreneurship Society, Purple Talk and Telangana Academy of Skill and Knowledge (TASK) will jointly host the online platform.

The other hackathon is focussed on Internet of Things (IoT), where the organisers are providing with kits to developers to develop apps to build solutions for urban problems using sensors that are connected to the Internet. About 22 teams participated on Saturday for the Smart cities’ Devthon being held at the Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI).

“Besides offering the solutions, we would like to organise about 50 hacking and proto-typing events in the next 7-8 months,” Ramesh, who is also the Managing Director of Progress Software India, said.

Ramesh, who is actively associated with the start-up ecosystem in the city, has said that like-minded people have joined together to build the platform that makes it easy for people to organise hackathons. “The online platform will help the organisers send invites, fliers and alerts to the participants. It will also handhold them in various steps,” he said.