About the Hackathon
The American University in Cairo, School of Business, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is launching Hack 21, June 2021.
HACK21 is an annual online hackathon for national, regional and international undergraduate university students of all majors, to create helpful assistive technologies solutions to tackle people with disabilities (PWDs) challenges and find solutions to the current difficulties they are facing due to COVID-19 in two tracks
All national, regional and international undergraduate university students from all majors and backgrounds are eligible to participate.
You will have the chance to win a monetary prize.
PWDs have bigger healthcare requirements and are more likely to experience poor health, however, their access to healthcare remains compromised compared to others. Despite this well-known basic requirement, PWDs often face barriers to accessing healthcare and they face additional risks to their well-being, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
HACK21 aims at empowering students and university networks to engage in developing solutions for current challenges facing disabled people during and post COVID-19; i.e. health, digital communication, education and travel... The 3-day hackathon will focus on problems that are caused by the outbreak and the repercussions of the lockdown to disabled people rather than looking for a medical cure to the virus.
Hack-21 is eager to have innovative ideas across sectors, tracks, and areas that helps create simpler, more productive, enjoyable and safer life to PWDs and their caregivers, examples of tracks could be, yet not limited to the following:
Well-being
The outbreak caused freezing particularly in profoundly enthusiastic societies and it is clearly seen with PWDs. It is additionally having its toll on parts of the populace causing discouragement and desperation. With small communication .. See More
Health care system support
Coming up with solutions that support the PWDs healthcare system in the face of all challenges. Accessibility of health consultations being limited as a result of the pandemic’s repercussions to community in general and specifically .. See More
Objective and Rationale
Through Hack21 we are looking for students who are passionate about finding and building innovative solutions for PWDs to help them tackle any barriers they are facing especially during the global pandemic that we are currently experiencing. One of the main objectives of HACK21 is to build the sense of social awareness among the participating students in order to enhance their understanding towards the needs of their societies and communities.
Also, participating students will also have the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills throughout the hackathon, such as creative thinking, good communication, presentation, analysis, and inference skills by meeting and interacting with experienced coaches throughout the hackathon’s duration.
The Hackathon aims at constructing a response system to current challenges faced by PWDs due to COVID-19; in collaboration with different partners dealing with various types of disabilities. The response system leverages on the students' eagerness to create a better, safer, simpler and more productive quality of life for the disabled people in their communities.
Individuals with disabilities must be supported and ensured that they are not left behind during the COVID outbreak, that they have a good level of living, and that they are treated with respect, dignity, and equal care. Worth noting that in the face of COVID-19's spread, it's critical that everyone, especially individuals with disabilities, take basic precautions.
Similarly, important is social distancing and self-isolation that in some cases might be impossible for some PWDs and their caregivers.
HACK21 is looking for emerging trends and innovative ideas to bring them to light to benefit PWDs welfare. Hack21 will mobilize international undergraduate students to find and implement crowd-sourced, people-centered solutions through an online hackathon built around the design thinking methodology that supports: innovation through design sprints, rapid solution development through brainstorming, community engagement through crowdsourcing, accessibility to coaching and mentorship.
Gather your team of 2 to 4 undergraduates
Research, Approach then Generate a Solution
