Õ¬Äе¼º½

6 September 2018

Hundreds of honourable hackers will descend on Õ¬Äе¼º½ this weekend for the world’s largest open data hackathon.

Australia Chair and Queensland State Director Jason Weigel said participants would have 46 hours to create innovative and useful projects that harnessed the value of open data published by government.

“They could create innovative apps and products, or mash up data through visualisations, games, art work or data stories,” he said.

“Teams will work through the weekend to find new ideas or ways to reuse the data to win prizes in international, national and local categories.”

He said a Õ¬Äе¼º½ team in the 2017 GovHack had used Brisbane City Cycle data to create a that took users on a journey from the closest bike rack to some of the best landmarks in Brisbane.

Mr Weigel, who is a Õ¬Äе¼º½ PhD student, said projects such as GovHack inspired governments to make positive changes to data delivery.

“These initiatives make it easier for the public to understand how governments use revenue, and encourage governments to focus more attention on delivering services relevant to those using them,” he said.

will open the two-day challenge on Friday night.

Õ¬Äе¼º½ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said GovHack encouraged ethical hackers to harness open data to create positive change in the community.

“This is an excellent opportunity for inventive, dedicated people to form innovative collaborations that could have high returns for society.

“It fits well with Õ¬Äе¼º½’s work to nurture a robust entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem.”

GovHack will be held at Õ¬Äе¼º½’s Advanced Engineering Building from Friday 7 September to Sunday 9 September.

Registrations are open at .

WHAT: GovHack 2018

WHERE: Rooms 301 and 200, Advanced Engineering Building, Õ¬Äе¼º½

WHEN: 7-9 September

Media: GovHack Australia Limited Chair Jason Weigel, qld@govhack.org; The University of Queenland, Dr Marie Boden, 0435 378 865.