Jersey’s first island-wide Hackathon took place this weekend at the Digital Jersey Hub, in partnership with Collaborate.je and Techtribes.je. More than 50 enthusiastic coders gathered together at this community event for over 40 hours of non-stop developing, creating and designing.
Hackathons typically engage attendees in collaborative computer programming tasks and demonstrations, with a view to creating usable software by the end of the event. Over the course of the weekend, over 9 projects underwent design and development with a focus on providing an accessible and improved online offering for Liberty Bus. Projects included:
- Open Alert – An Android application that provides a modern take on a Dead Man’s Handle, that has the potential to help engineers working alone on site, skiers or backpackers. It offers report-home functionality and a ‘panic’ button that logs GPS coordinates to a control panel. Not yet available for download
- Jsyjourney – A web based application using GPS technology to locate the nearest bus stop based on the users’ location, with a list of the next available buses and times. Available now at www.jsyjourney.com
- BusMeThere Jersey – A mobile phone application for browsing the bus timetable specifically by route, showing all active buses around the island. A message board functionality would be available for regular users to provide real-time updates at each bus stop. Not yet available for use
- Omnibus – A web based application aimed at bus users with a destination in mind – enabling the user to find the nearest bus and corresponding stop based on your location. Users also have the functionality to select any destination and plan a route. Available online now at http://dev.hypertexture.net
- Benedict Lewis – An iPhone specific application detailing the position of all active buses, allowing you to filter them by specific route. This application has been submitted to Apple for review and could soon be available to download via iTunes.
- Hustings.je – Still in the initial stages of development, this site is designed to present data collated from Tweets to, from and about political candidates, using Sentiment Analysis to distinguish between positive and negative comments. A first version of this will be made available at www.hustings.je this week
- Suzan Gray & Danielle Hurley – formed from basic data analysis project detailing the voting history of local politicians, using publically available information designed to illustrate any trends in behaviour or activity. Not yet available for use
- Bussim – A website designed to providing users a ‘fun, drivers eye view’ from any active bus running locally. Following further development the application will provide a ‘virtual tour’ of the bus route. This is available now at: http://bussim.rcwd.me
A public API providing access to both real-time and static (timetable) bus data for interested developers. Available soon at www.data.je
A small awards presentation took place on the final day, Director of Digital Jersey, Andy Jarrett, Steve Rowland, Head of Business Development at Vistra, Matt Chatterley, Director of Mattched IT Ltd and Rob Dudley of TechTribes.je, judged the efforts of all attendees and awarded the following trophies:
- ‘Best Technical Award’ to the bus timetable app, BusMeThere Jersey
- ‘Best Creative Award’ to Team Omnibus
- ‘Out of the Box Award’ Team Open Alert for the Dead Man’s Handle Android application
Matt Chatterley, Director of Mattched IT Ltd, commented:
“It was fantastic to see such a great response to the Hackathon and the outstanding amount of effort put in by the participants, who produced a number of fantastic apps and who we hope to work with to move those apps forward in the coming weeks and months.”
Andrew Jarrett, Director at Digital Jersey commented:
“It was brilliant to see so many passionate coders of all levels, working together with such a strong sense of community. From coding professionals and independent developers to coding students, everyone who attended added value to the weekend and as a result some really innovative and creative applications, not to mention working relationships, have been generated.”
More information about the Hackathon will be published on the Digital Jersey website including a full profile of each solution, the team behind it, and any updates as the applications become available for use or download.
