UrbanFoodTech Hackathon

Name: UrbanFoodTech Hackathon
Start: 2016-06-18T08:00:00.000Z
End: 2016-06-19T18:00:00.000Z

Food.

You put it in your mouth everyday while taking for granted the miles it traveled to reach you, the labor it took to process and package, and the nutrients extracted from the environment to grow it.

Decades of cheap California produce have depleted the aquifers there. Record heat and seasonal droughts are becoming normal for more people. Runoff from Midwestern mono-crops are polluting river ways and killing fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Bees hives are collapsing and we still don't know why. Migrant farm labor abuses are becoming conspicuous. Animal factory farms are abusing antibiotics. Food deserts seem to be designed features of local urban policy as opposed to innocent bugs resulting from inadequate urban planning.

Let's face it: our current food system is dumb. Humans, arguably, are getting smarter. Our cities are getting smarter. It's time for food to get smarter as well. We think the smartest component of our cities and communities should be our food supply. With the advent of digital technology and IOT (internet of things), cities and communities are in prime position to start (re)building local food systems from ground up to be smart, connected, and resilient to negative factors while becoming more responsive to consumer/producer needs.

MashambaHack is organizing an innovation series targeting new opportunities around urban food systems. Our first event is an UrbanFoodTech Hackathon with the goal of creating and sustaining at least eight new projects and/or startups that will directly benefit urban farmers and the urban food system here in Atlanta, GA.

We're inviting urban farmers, chefs, foodies, hackers, designers, & entrepreneurs to join us as we listen to and work with each other to learn about the obstacles in the present iteration of the food system.

Join a team of up to five members and develop a solution over the weekend. But the hacking doesn't end on Sunday. Continue to visit stakeholders and urban food facilities throughout the summer to further deep dive into your problem with support from the Atlanta's startup ecology. Refine and pitch your project in October at National Farm Appreciation Day.

What you need: Laptop, brain, interest in food, willingness to learn, and most importantly, the ability to listen and collaborate!

What we provide: Subject matter experts, real world local problems to solve, a collaborative environment, food, drink, caffeine, and swag!

Event Location: The Iron Yard is graciously hosting us at their awesome downtown Atlanta campus.

Event Schedule: The following is a tentative list of the weekend's agenda:

Day 1
- 8AM - Breakfast/Registration
- 9AM - UrbanFoodHack starts, words from our sponsors!
- 10AM - SMEs articulate problems, ideas are pitched, teams form, hacking BEGINS!
- 12PM - Working Lunch
- 1PM - Sponsor Workshops
- 6PM - Dinner is Served, Hacking Continues
- 11PM - End of night one. Go home, get some sleep and prepare for Day 2! (Nah, no slumber party)

Day 2
- 8AM - Breakfast, Team Progress Check-in
- 1PM - Lunch is Served
- 4PM - Presenter Tech Check
- 5PM - Teams pitch their solutions
- 6PM - Community Judge Feedback
- 7PM - Event Wind-down
- 8PM - Clean-up

Technical Tracks

The UrbanFoodTech Hackathon is targeting innovation in these technical areas:

Mobile

Designing new mobile interfaces that simplify tasks, present data, consume APIs, and facilitate communication for urban farming practioners, their customers and community easily using standards compliant HTML, CSS, Javascript and UI/UX principles and tools such as Bootstrap, Angular, and React, etc.

Data

Communicate complex information clearly and efficiently to the urban farming practitioner, their customers and community, helping them analyze and reason about data using open source tools such as D3, SVG, Open Street Map, GeoJSON, TopoJSON, R, etc

APIs

Creation and Utilization of new and existing RESTful web application programming interfaces that create value for the urban farming practitioner, their customers and community utilizing professional practices and API development tools like Swagger, Kong, Apiary, and Postman.

Hardware

Creating open source hardware solutions, utilizing micro controllers,the internet of things (IoT), sensors, and drones, that collect data, exchange information, automate urban farming operations, and inform the urban farming practitioner, their customers and community in real time.

Teams of up to 5 attendees are allowed and they can attack separate components of the same problem; ie forming a backend team and frontend team to address same problem (10 people). Each team, IDEALLY, should contain at least one urban farmer. In our example above, a farmer would work with both the front end team and backend team for a total of 10 people.

Prizes

Currently TBA. If your company would like to sponsor a prize, contact us or use our sponsorship form. We are open to input from our sponsors. We have some general guidelines:

There should be enough of prizes for each team member
Prizes should be somehow be related (or relateable) to urban agriculture
Remember that this is not a competition per se...

Remember Team Sizes are capped at 5 people but several teams may be working on separate components of the same problem. Since this is not a competition, consider mentoring and/or offering a couple hours of coworking space at your office for winning teams.

Anti-harassment Policy

VERY IMPORTANT: We don't tolerate harrassment!

The MashambaHack #UrbanAgTech Hackathon is a safe space where you can express yourself without fear of judgment or harassment. All participants and visitors are expected to treat other participants, visitors, staff, and the general public with respect. Under the umbrella of respect, we expect all participants be mindful of their speech and behaviors both in person and on social media. Particularly, we want to remind participants and visitors to refrain from making assumptions about another's identity, experience, and preferred pronouns.

No form of harassment or assault will be tolerated, this includes but is not limited to physical harassment, verbal harassment, and any form of sexual assault. Those who violate this policy will be either directed to leave the premises or reported to the authorities.

If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, please talk with an organizer or volunteer. If you see someone being treated with disrespect, please speak up either yourself or by getting an organizer/volunteer involved. With your help we can make sure everyone involved is being treated with respect.

See our complete Code of Coduct at our Github repo.

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?

Marta is a sustainable option. The Iron Yard is literally one block away from Five Points Station. There is also paid parking in the vicinity.

Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?

You can use this email: atl [dot] hack [at] mashamba [dot] co.

Is my registration/ticket transferrable?

If you've registered but can't attend and would like to transfer your ticket to someone with a similar background, please contact us so we can welcome them in your stead!

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

Nope.

Atlanta 2016 UrbanAgTech Hackthon Sponsors

Adamantium Sponsor

The Iron Yard

We want to thank our Adamantium Sponsor, The Iron Yard!

Location

The Iron Yard
Atlanta, United States

Dates

From 18th June 2016 - 08:00 AM
to 19th June 2016 - 06:00 PM