birmingham-us - Global Urban Datafest

Shape the future of cities!

The majority of people around the world now live in cities for the first time in human history. This rapid urban growth creates big opportunities and challenges. The need to address them is urgent. You can shape the future of cities by using the latest technologies. Join the UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center, the UAB School of Engineering, the Alabama Media Group/AL.com, Auburn University, and Code for Birmingham, for Alabama's Global Smart Cities Hackathon and be part of one of the biggest and most exciting changes of our times!

The Global Urban Datafest is a multi-city hackathon, a weekend of intense collaborative coding. We bring together two diverse groups. One is developers, data scientists, open hardware enthusiasts. The other includes urban experts, journalists and specialists in all other fields. Diverse teams typically produce best results. This is why we invite people of all backgrounds to participate.

Make An Impact. Register Here

WELCOME TO THE GLOBAL URBAN DATAFEST

What will I do at the hackathon?
You'll work with a team to rapidly design solutions for challenges. At the end of the two days, teams will present their solutions to a panel of city representatives and other experts. You could help ideate and create an innovative software or hardware application.

What are the challenges?

Urban Revitalization and Land Bank
Food Insecurity and Mobile Food Markets
Trail System Usability and Monitoring
Government Data Converter Tool

CLICK HERE for a detailed description of projects

PRIZES

Raspberry Pi for Raffle!

Every participant will have a chance to win a Raspberry Pi Model B+ as long as the team present a demo about the project. We've got 15 of them and may the luck be in your favor!

Top Two Teams

Each team will receive a cash prize provided by AL.com
Both teams will be nominated for global recognition, and have two additional weeks to prepare for the global competition*.
Consulting services including a preliminary feasibility assessment and business model design (sponsored by the UAB Collat School of Business).

IBM Prize

Eligible for one team. Teams competing for this prize have to use IBM Bluemix platform. For more information see here.

SCHEDULE

Friday, February 20

6:00 PM Kick-off Reception

6:30 PM Description of challenges to address

7:00 PM Teams formation and project planning

Saturday, February 21

9:00 AM - Competition starts (day 1)

9:00 PM - Day 1 ends

Sunday, February 22

9:00 AM Competition continues (day 2)

1:00 PM Demo and presentation preparation

4:30 PM Presentations and Judging

6:30 PM Awards

RULES

Please take a look at the global rules, but here's the gist:

Create a project page before Saturday. Include the team name as well as team member names, but feel free to leave out project information if you are not sure yet. We'll use these names for the Raspberry Pi raffle throughout the weekend!
Complete project information by 5:30 PM on Saturday.
Have the demo ready by 4:30 PM on Sunday.
The project code has to be written during the weekend. (using an existing open-source library is fine)
Create a GitHub repo as early as possible if you plan to open source your project. Contact us to add you into the global-urbal-datafest organization. Please note that to participate in the global competition, your project needs to be open source.

PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

AL.com

Auburn University

City of Birmingham, Mayor's Office

Code for America / Code for Birmingham

Freshwater Land Trust

IBM Smarter Cities Challenge

Instagift

Marketry, Inc.

MAX / Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority

My Green Birmingham

Red Mountain Makers

Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham

REV Birmingham

TechBirmingham

Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

UAB COLLAT School of Business

UAB College of Arts & Sciences

UAB Honors College

UAB Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center

UAB School of Engineering

UAB School of Medicine

UAB Student Association for Computing Machinery

UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center

YMCA of Greater Birmingham

Use IBM Bluemix for your Hacks! Click here to Learn!

LOCATION

Alabama Media Group / AL.com

1731 1st Avenue North

Birmingham, AL 35203

USA

Free parking

TIME

Kick-off Meeting

6 PM, 20 February 2015, CT

Software and Hardware Design

Start: 9:00 AM, 21February 2015, CT

End: 4:30 PM, 22 February 2015, CT

Demonstration and Judging

4:30 AM, 22 February 2015, CT

JUDGES

Ann August
MAX/BJCTA

Phil Amthor, AICP
City of Birmingham, Mayor's Office - Land Bank

Niki Doyle
Advance Digital

Sri Karra
City of Birmingham, Mayor's Office - IT Management

Ryan Parker
Freshwater Land Trust - Red Rock Valley Trail System

Nate Schmidt
Instagift

Mary Ann Smith-Janas
Marketry, Inc.

Diane Tucker, PhD
UAB Science and Technology Honors Program

Raghela Scavuzzo
REV Birmingham Food Program

Molly Wasko, PhD
UAB Department of Management, Information Systems, Quantitative Methods