Houston Hackathon Winners Bring Forth Innovative Solutions

May 22, 2017 -- Hackathon winners focused on monitoring air quality, improving storm drainage and connecting library resources during the fifth annual event. The City of Houston hosted a 24 hour "Hackathon" on May 20-21 at the Houston Technology Center in partnership with Sketch City, a nonprofit community that advocates for civic technology and open data. More than 300 people including software developers, designers, and data analysts attended the event. Houston’s “civic hackers” pitched ideas, formed teams, and developed innovative new websites, mobile apps, and insightful data visualizations to address community and City problems.

In the coming weeks, city staff and Sketch City will be working with teams to prepare their projects for a wider audience. "I had the opportunity to hear from several of the participants and was thrilled to see their enthusiasm and innovative ideas," said Mayor Turner. "In fact, I can see the City utilizing some of these applications in our Complete Communities and our Meaningful Change- not Spare Change Initiatives."

Winners of the 2017 Hackathon will have an opportunity to meet with Mayor Turner to discuss potential implementation.

To view all submissions visit: https://houstonhackathon5.devpost.com/submissions

2017 Hackathon Winners:

Houston Adopt-a-Drain - which allows citizens to adopt storm drains and notifies adopters when a major storm event is coming so they can clear their adopted drain inlets.
https://devpost.com/software/houston-adopt-a-storm-drain

NeedHOU - created a comprehensive database for community service providers to more appropriately and easily refer clients to resources in the community.
https://devpost.com/software/need-hou

Houston Book Link - allows users to search the resources of both Houston Public Library and Harris County Public Library Systems' on in a single site. https://devpost.com/software/houston-elibrary-portal

PAIR (Polluted Air) - Sends users a notification when nearby air quality sensors detect a moderate or dangerous level of pollutants and allows users to easily report air quality violations to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. https://devpost.com/software/pair-o60q2n

For further details about the City of Houston's Hackathon please visit: http://www.houstonhackathon.com.