THE Annual Geekulcha Hackathon took place recently and saw more than 100 coders developers and programmers challenge each other in an online contest. The annual event has become a highlight of the African developer ecosystem.
This year’s winner was Trevor Morethe who came up with an idea to digitise street food vendors with his Let Me Serve You (LMSY) mobile app. Morethe said that his application will provide a platform where consumers can order food and discover street food vendors in their surrounding areas.
“I want to help street food vendors track orders, streamline their processes while assisting customers, like me, to save time when ordering food as well as provide information on nearby vendors. This will assist these micro-businesses and their customers step into the digital world.”
This year, the event went virtual, offering ‘hackers’ the chance to develop and code from the safety and comfort of their homes. Mixo Ngoveni, one of the founders of Geekulcha said that for the first time ever, the hackathon took place over 42 hours with various challenges in the mix to test the minds of these computer coding enthusiasts.
“Covid-19 has brought about many challenges and as such we were not able to host our usual events due to lockdown regulations. This year, we decided to make it virtual and to ensure that we maximise the event, instead of one day, hackers had 42 hours to come up with solutions under one virtual roof, using technology. We also saw all nine provinces being represented,” Ngoveni said.
He added that these events have shed much needed light on coding, technology and innovation to not only the youth, but for everyone keen to learn something different.
This year, RS Components came on board with sponsored components, hardware and prizes for entrants. “We, at RS Components are passionate about education and nurturing the next generation of innovators,” said Wesley Hood, the company’s STEM Education Specialist.
“The team at Geekulcha have been inspiring to watch grow and adapt over the last year. Although we miss being at their physical events it was great to be part of the virtual panel of judges, the teams really showed off their skills and brought some innovative ideas to the table,” Hood said.
