Four student teams, comprised of a total of 10 to 12 individuals from the College of Computing and Informatics, will participate in a regional hackathon set for Saturday and Sunday, July 12-13, in the PORTAL Building.
The University is hosting one of several such events being held worldwide; the goal is to expose technology innovators and the financial services community to one another. Hackathon organizers are founders of “The Money Event” (TME) held during Super Mobility Week in Las Vegas Sept. 9-11. TME sessions focus on innovations in commerce, banking, payments and financial services in general.
According to hackathon organizers, their mission is to demonstrate the power of open platforms and mobile technologies in fostering innovations in financial services.
“We will be asking participants to develop a proof of concept that brings wireless and open platform technologies together in a way that will stimulate innovation in financial services,” said Aditya Khurjekar, a hackathon co-organizer. “This will be a fantastic opportunity to get hands on experience and earn tremendous exposure in the hottest ecosystem at the intersection of two exciting industries: mobility and money.”
Apart from prizes from local and national sponsors, any team from the Charlotte challenge that takes its concept from the hackathon and carries it all the way to startup will receive a BizSpark license from Microsoft, which provides $25,000 worth of software to prepare a young technology company to launch and grow.
One winning team globally will receive an all-expense paid trip to Las Vega to participate in TME, where it will be able to present its plans to the expected 40,000 attendees.