PARTICIPANTS of the second annual Hackathon endured 48 grueling hours to create the best application, and in the end, team Innosys walked away with the $300,000 top prize.

Under the theme: “Hack to the Future”, each of the seven participating teams which included a group from neighbouring Suriname named Su-code squad, were required to create a software or mobile application catering for Rates and Taxes Management and Reporting for municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NCDs).

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle prior to the announcement, Innosys team members –Deenauth November, Munifa Erskine, Julius Simon and Sonny Kothapally — expressed confidence that their application would be adjudged the best solution based on the mere fact that it encompassed most of the requisite functions detailed.

Team member and presenter, Julius Simon pointed out that the `mere’ effort that they put into the competition was a sure and main factor that will set them apart. This effort was backed by a genuine commitment to see Guyana move forward in the digital world and thus the team is optimistic to initiate their project.

“It’s something that will really help the country, in terms of getting NDCs online and getting people to access their information just so things could move more smoothly,” Simon said and added, “I think we could contribute, hopefully, to bettering the country.”
With Innosys copping first place, myMarket and Intellect Storm were adjudged the second and third places, respectively.

According to Lance Hinds, Technical Advisor to the Minister of Public Communications and one of the judges, the participants were judged by a very strict criterion and the judges “slavishly stuck” by this criterion.
In addition to the application being user-friendly, innovative and efficient, the judges looked for the electronic recording of owners and properties, property classification, payment options and exemptions, sending and receiving of notifications and statistical measures.

The competition began at noon on Friday and ended at noon Sunday.
Hinds also explained to this newspaper that the Hackathon event is a facilitator for the development of local talent, but the ministry’s vision is to have schools and other agencies host their own hackathons to harness local talent.