Hawaii Annual Code Challenge Kickoff Ceremony

About

Gov. David Y. Ige, the Office of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS), and the State of Hawaii Transformation Internship Program (TIP) will host the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge (HACC) in Honolulu from Aug. 27 to Sept. 24, 2016, with a kickoff event on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Aloha Tower Marketplace (Multi-Purpose Room 3). Doors will open at 9 a.m. for participants and viewers to network and get settled before the ceremony commences at 10 a.m. 

Presented in partnership with local nonprofit Hawaii Open Data, the month-long event is being held to engage the local tech community in the modernization of Hawaii state government.

A first of its kind for the state, HACC is based on the concept of a hackathon, a problem-solving event that brings together creative individuals over a set duration. Hackathons serve a variety of purposes, from exploring a new technology or programming language to encouraging economic growth through technology development, and they are often sponsored by companies, nonprofit groups, and other organizations. But rather than the traditional around-the-clock development over a single day or weekend, HACC will offer an extended period for development over one month.

The kickoff event will include team formation, foundational training, and workshops. In addition, participants will select from a list of challenges themed around key problems facing the state, and then work over the next several weeks to develop their solutions. The expanded month-long timeframe is meant to encourage sustainable solutions that are appropriately matched with technologies and platforms in use or being considered by the state.

Participants will return on Sept. 24 to present their solutions for judging and winner selection. 

Challenges

Prior to the kickoff, participants are encouraged to submit their own ideas for state-related challenges facing the citizens of Hawaii. Submissions will be considered for inclusion in the challenge pool. 

Prizes

Awards will go to top participants, and outstanding projects will be considered for implementation.

Rules

     Timeframe

• Applications must be built over the course of the code challenge event and submitted by the specified deadline.

• Events for the Code Challenge will be held on August 27, 2016 (Opening Ceremony) and September 24, 2016 (Presentation by Teams and Awards Ceremony).

     Eligibility

• Participants must either be 18 years of age or older or be authorized by a legal guardian.  Each team must have one person over the age of 18 to receive an award.

• Participants must sign, agree, and adhere to the official contest guidelines and eligibility documents.

• Official contest guidelines and eligibility documents will be released prior to the event, and participants must sign an acknowledgement of the guidelines upon check-in and registration confirmation at the opening ceremony.

• Electronic registration forms will be provided for participants unable to attend the opening ceremony and they must be completed and submitted by August 27, 2016.

     Team Formation

• Teams may be formed in advance of the code challenge event; each team must register during the team formation period of the opening ceremony.

• Neighbor island teams must submit the information and signed copies of the Contest Guidelines and Eligibility Document of each team member by August 27, 2016.

     Team Size

• There is no limit on team size but teams of three (3) or more are highly encouraged.

     Submission Criteria

• Submissions must be entirely the work of the contestants. Teams may use any software/platform of their choosing for their projects and submissions will be uploaded to the official HACC GitHub.

     Challenges

• Teams will select challenges from a list of reverse pitches provided by the State of Hawaii departments and/or agencies at the opening ceremony.

• The official challenge list will be made available at the opening ceremony on August 27, 2016.

     Attendance

• Participants are required to register for the code challenge event by the Opening Ceremony. Registration will not be accepted after August 27, 2016.

• For participants who are unable to attend the opening ceremony in person, the event will be live-streamed and video replays will be made available on HACC.hawaii.gov.

• Weekly check-ins will be made available to participants for professional feedback and guidance. Team presence at these check-ins is highly encouraged, but not required. Video conferencing will be made available for participants who are unable to attend in person.

     Presentations

• At the Closing Ceremony, teams are provided a 10-minute segment to present their projects.

• Neighbor island participants who are unable to attend the event in person should submit a video presentation no longer than 10 minutes. The video should include a brief demonstration and explanation of their project approach and final iteration. The video should be submitted by September 23, 2016 no later than 5:00 pm HST.

     Judging Staff

• Judges will be selected by the HACC team and will be announced before the Opening Ceremony. There will be a maximum of seven (7) judges that will may include representatives from government, private and non-profit organizations.

     Judging Criteria

• Projects will be evaluated based on originality, design, overall impact, long-term sustainability, and team collaboration and innovation.

     Awards

• The official list of awards and corresponding award categories will be announced prior to the Opening Ceremony.

• The judging and award ceremony will take place on September 24, 2016.

• Awards eligibility pertains to individuals 18 years of age or older. If a team’s membership includes any individuals under 18 years of age, at least one member of that team must meet the prize distribution age of 18 years or older.

     Conduct

• Be kind and behave professionally.

• Participants must agree and adhere to the official contest guidelines and eligibility documents.

• Challenge teams that have members who are under the age of 18 must adhere to strict guidelines and a code of conduct under the direction of an educational mentor. Teams of this type of makeup are also required to review and acknowledge the Child Protection Code of Practice.

     Violations

• Teams who violate the terms of service will be disqualified.

     Application Code & Intellectual Property Rights

• Use of open source applications and platforms are encouraged for entry submissions for the code challenge.

• Open source applications are widely available and typically have minimal costs associated when developing prototype solutions.

• Teams responding to challenges with government agencies will make available open source code structure and setup in order to demonstrate the proof of concept for the website, mobile application or other.

• Teams will retain rights and access to the source code to make it available to organizations, businesses and community interest groups to address a similar process challenge.

• Open source common guidelines are referenced and defined here https://opensource.org/osd-annotated

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Event Partners

HACC FAQs: http://hacc.hawaii.gov/#faq_anchor

For more information, latest updates, rules, and challenge idea submission, visit HACC.hawaii.gov.

If you have any questions that are not answered on our website, feel free to email us: hacc@hawaii.gov