Tuesday, February 19, 2013

iZone-iHUB "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event

As the saying goes: "strike while the iron is hot". After the successful 24 Hour Hackathon event held at iZone-iHUB last February 2013. This time around they put everything up a notch higher. They will now introduce the next event which is "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event.

Official Poster for the "iNNOVATION" Hackathon
This is again another 24 hour event were contestant would have the opportunity to show case their skills and talents in the field of information technology. iZone-iHUB would also be awarding the prize of twenty thousand pesos (20,000.00) cash card to the sole winner of this event.

This is a golden chance for those who were not able to attend the first Hackathon to join up and be part of the league of programmers, developers and designer who have made their claim on being the sole survivor of the 24 Hour Hackathon Event.

Here is the recap of the recently concluded Hackathon and the winning group highlighted:

iZone-iHUB Founder Mr. Dan Pena shaking the hands of the participants.
Project "Stuff Cookie" who was able to grab the grand prize is now in discussion with the board members of iZone-iHUB in a potential venture to kick start the project they have developed on this Hackathon Event.

Here are the details of the event for the next Hackathon which is "iNNOVATION":


iZone-iHUB’s "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event

COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS:
A Selection Committee to be formed by iZone-iHUB shall review and evaluate which entries will qualify for the Finals. Mr. Dan S. Peña himself would also be judging the projects.

  •       Each team will be required to attend iZone-iHUB’s scheduled Hackathon Event indicated monthly via Social media and other form of promotions.
  •       Core members of the team are mandated to be present on the Hackathon Date for their team to qualify and participate.
  •       Each team will be required to give a 10 to 15-minutes presentation plus a 3 minute demonstration (live or video) of their prototype to the Board of Judges.
  •       Application must be built during the entire duration of the contest. Teams are given 24 hours (from 2pm of March 16 until 2pm of March 17, 2013) to finish their entries. (Premade programs or applications outside the competition time frame is not allowed)
  •       Pre-screening process will be done to distinguished individuals or groups and panellist will decide on the sole grand winner of the event.
  •       The Board of Judges will select 1 team whose entry will qualify for admission into the iZone-iHUB’s incubation program. The decision of the Board of Judges shall be final. (Not all projects would have the chance to be part of the incubation program if they do not fit the criteria of the Board of judges.)
  •       Project should also contain a mock up (Prototype) and presentation materials for a live demo of the project to either the panel of judges or jury.

  •       Applications may be assembled using any mix of programming languages, application frameworks, and development tools. Participants are expected to bring the necessary tools to build their competition entry. (Be guided with the Theme Guideline as reference on what to prepare for the competition.)
  •       Application must be built during the entire duration of the contest. 
  •       Teams can either chose to implement their idea as a web application, a mobile application or both without any restriction on what platforms or language to use.
  •       All decisions of judges are final. Scores will be announced and winners will be decided on the end of the “iNNOVATION” Hackathon Event



THEME:
Theme Guideline: Utilize the major platforms or APIs (Apple, Android, Desktop OS, and Windows w/ integration from Social Media).
 Hackathon Theme: To be Announced on the Hackathon Date.



CRITERIA FOR JUDGING:
The criteria below will determine sole winner monthly. The criteria and a description are posted below with the corresponding weights:
Criteria for Judging: 100%
- Innovation/Novelty (wow factor) – 30%
- Commercial viability (global scale) – 20% 
- Technical expertise – 10%
- Solution scalability – 20%        
- Completeness – 10%
- Aesthetics – 10%

TIMING (Cycle)
  • Registration start a month prior to the competition.
  • Deadline of registration is a day before the Hackathon Event.
  • Development of the project is within the Hackathon Event.
  • Announcement of winner/winners will be end of the Hackathon Event.

APPLICANTS
There will be no age limit for the Applicants of iZone-iHUB’s Hackathon Event. Age limit would be 18 years old and above. iZone-iHUB staff and iZone Technologies Corporation are not qualified to be part of this competition.

MENTORS
iZone-iHUB has closed partnership with DevCon (Developer’s Connect), a group whose advocacies are in lined with the beliefs of iZone-iHUB. They provide support to event that would harness the potential of every Pinoy Programmer, Developer or Designer.

AWARDS AND COMMERCIALS


THE AWARD:
Sole winner or team will get to take home Twenty Thousand Pesos (20,000.00) cash card and a chance to get their project enrolled to iZone-iHUB’s start up incubation program.


iZone-iHUB INCUBATION PROGRAM
Mr. Dan Peña would provide funding and support to any projects that he find interest upon presentation of the projects at the Hackathon Event. Winners will then be invited to discuss the terms of this projects with him and what support he will be able to provide to winners.

EVENT LOCATION:
Unit No. 12 A (Penthouse) Agustin 1 Building, No. 28 F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Landmark near the building is El Pueblo and Orient Square Building along Emerald Avenue)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

iZone-iHUB "24 Hour" Hackathon Challenge Conclusion

February 15, 2013 is a day mark by every developer, program and designer that took up the challenge to participate and be a contender to one of the biggest event sponsored by iZone-iHUB in service to the technology community of the Philippines. The "24 Hour" Hackathon Event has now come to a closure.

iZone-iHUB First Hackathon Promotion
This event show cased the talents of each individual on how they will be able to collaborate with one another in coming up with the greatest project or idea they can create within the 24 hour window given to them. As the saying goes, everyone was called but only few adhered to the calling. The event was held at 1 Agustin Building, Ortigas Business Center Pasig City, which is the main head quarters of the Tech Site of iZone-iHUB.

One of the  team collaborating with one another to create ideas
The chosen few who came in accepted the challenge brought out all there creative juice in developing a project that follow the theme iZone-iHUB provided on the day of the event. As what iZone-iHUB believes, ideas that can be marketed and commercialize globally.

Developer Connect (DevCon) was also present on site to provide guidance to all the contestant on this gruesome 24 hour challenge. Mr. Bryan Bibat (VP for Technology) provided his thoughts on how Hackathon are being done here in the Philippines. He provided the contestant Hackathon 101 specially for those who are new to the game.

Bryan Bibat providing Hackathon 101 to the contestant
We also have another prominent member of DevCon which is Alvin Chan who was also present on site to provide his expertise to the contenders present on the event. His skills when it comes to development is something you will not take lightly and with his vast array of experience he provides effective feedback to the projects the contestants were developing.

Alvin Chan shown in the background doing his stuff
Microsoft spoke person was also present on site to provide talk about Windows Phone and Windows 8 and how developers can be able to take advantage of this devices and software. They were also the one who sponsored the prizes to be given out to the winners of this Hackathon Event.

Spoke Person Chris from Microsoft demonstrating Windows Phone
Here are the list of team who were the sole survivors of this event among all those who adhere to the calling of the challenge iZone-iHUB shouted for this event:

  • Project "Stuff Cookie" Lead by Joseph Ross Lee
  • Project "Imbored" Lead by Jethro De Guzman
  • Project "Seeker" Lead by Ace Dimasuhid
  • Project "Libra" Lead by Ken Lauren Daganio
Among this projects only 3 will be selected on the second day of the event for the conclusion of the 24 Hour Hackathon Challenge. The judges for the event would be no other than the Founder of iZone-iHUB Mr. Dan Pena and Marketing Director of iZone Technologies Philippines Mr. Robert Smith.

Mr. Dan Pena awaiting the announcement of winners for the 24 hour challenge
The Grand winner went to Project "Stuff Cookie" which is being lead by Joseph Ross Lee. Second place was then awarded to Project "Imbored" and the Third place goes to Project "Seeker". 

Besides the announcements of winners there were also speakers present on the event to provide inspirational talk to the contestant. Mr. RJ David founder of Sulit.com.ph was present on site for Q&A with the contenders. We also have Miss Susan Barlin, CEO of Barlin Group of Companies present and provided a great inspirational talk about investment and business.

Miss Susan Barlin providing a talk to the contestants.
This has been one of the milestones iZone-iHUB would want to share to the people and it would spark more things for the technology community to get involved with. So many opportunities iZone-iHUB provides and it is up to us if we want to take advantage of it.