Irish Hackathon Offers 4.5K in Prizes to Build Green Economy From Space

The online event runs 19 – 20 June

National Space Centre (NSC) in partnership with Munster Technological University (MTU) are hosting the first of a series of six hackathons focused on using satellite data and signals to spur innovation, sustainability and entrepreneurship with space technology. The hackathon’s theme, Digitising Green Spaces, encourages participants to develop solutions to global challenges and make a sustainable impact on Earth. Participants will be supported in using EU satellite images and signals to build their solutions.

“Hacker is just a term for a person who can apply a skillset to a problem,” explained Dr Niall Smith, Head of Research at MTU. “If you are a have a business idea that’s scalable and has the potential to address a global problem, the Cassini Hackathon will deliver hands-on experience of how the rapidly growing space sector can give you a competitive edge in ways you might not yet imagine.”

The competition is open to anyone over 18 including students, startups, businesses and people or organisations with a challenge that can be addressed with satellite data. The Irish organisers are preparing to welcome people from computer science, marketing, business, design, environmental studies and more. Participants can register in teams or sign up as individuals to be matched into a team before the start of the competition. Teams will be supported with business, technical, and marketing workshops along the way.

The Ireland hackathon is being organised by the NSC on behalf of the European Commission’s Competitive Space Start-ups for Innovation Initiative (CASSINI), the European programme to nurture business applications of digital space technologies. Irish teams will compete against teams from nine other EU countries over the weekend of the 19th and 20th of June, and the 1st place Irish team will go on to the European finals in July.

The Irish competition is sponsored by Blacknight Internet Solutions, with prizes of €2,500, €1,500 and €500 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams. Each of these teams will also receive a .earth domain and a Minimus hosting package for one year from Blacknight. Michele Neylon, CEO of Blacknight, said, “We’re excited to support this event, and to see the ideas that come out of the weekend. Hackathons like the CASSINI are a great way to nurture new ideas and new approaches to Ireland’s green spaces. We are a big fan of showcasing Irish innovation, so it was a natural fit for us to sponsor the prizes that will help the winners to showcase their prototypes and build indigenous Irish businesses.”

Sign-ups, tools, and more information can be found at https://hackathons.cassini.eu/

Image Caption: MTU 3rd year marketing student Luke Otter outside Bishop Lucey Park in Cork City. Luke’s team plans to look at increasing urban green spaces by identifying opportunities for pocket parks using satellite images. Photo Credit: NSC