Following the success of its travel hackathons in Silicon Valley in 2013 and in Boston in 2014, Emirates, a global connector of people and places, is partnering with WIT (Web In Travel) to run its first hackathon in Singapore during the March 14-15 weekend.
The 48-hour event, to be held at 237 @ 237 South Bridge Road, an open space for innovation in Singapore, aims to bring together talented developers and designers from the Asia-Pacific region to build new and innovative travel-centric applications that will improve customer experience by using web and mobile application programming interface (APIs).
The hackathon will see the brightest and most creative minds of students and professionals create unique web or mobile apps that will help travellers have a seamless experience throughout their journey.
Emirates is holding the hackathon in collaboration with Keio-NUS CUTE Center and Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore. Emirates has appointed WIT to organise the hackathon. WIT organises WIT Singapore, the largest gathering of online travel leaders in Asia-Pacific, as well as regional editions in Indonesia, Middle East and Japan.
The hackathon will have two categories – Student and Professional. To enter, participants can either take part as an individual or as a team. A panel of experts will judge the best apps in each category. The winning solution, one from each category, will receive cash prizes and a trip to Dubai where they will have the opportunity to present their apps to Emirates management. Winners will also have the chance to participate in the WIT Middle East Conference in Dubai on April 8-9.
Emirates is likewise inviting partners to open up their APIs for the event. Skyscanner – the largest meta search in Europe; as well as Wego – the largest meta search in Asia – have confirmed their participation. Other partners include BluVision, Brand Karma, LocusLabs, Sony and TripAdvisor.
Register for the hackathon here. For any enquiries, email Sathish Jeyakumar (Emirates) or Syazanah Haniff (WIT).
A webinar for registered participants will be held in the first week of March to give teams time to prepare for the live hackathon in Singapore.
The first Emirates hackathon Silicon Valley in 2013 and last year’s Boston event attracted over 300 participants.
