The Ministry of Public Telecommunications in partnership with the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission (GGMC) to host its 2020 Hackathon, a software developer, design and entrepreneur competition, from March 13 – 15.
Speaking at the launch at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Wednesday, GGMC Commissioner Newell Dennison remarked that the competition serves as a mechanism to find solutions for issues in the sectors.
“We see it as just an entry point to what this kind of activity can offer … we will have solutions that are tested and proven successful,” he said.
Minister of Public Telecommunications Hon. Catherine Hughes noted her ministry’s continuous efforts to boost Guyana’s technological capacity.
“I’m proud to say that one of the reasons we do [hackathons] is to provide an excellent opportunity for all software developers and everyone involved in the ICT industry to have an opportunity to work on providing solutions to challenges.”
An Agriculture Commodities Exchange app, which is now being tested, was created when the Innovative Systems Company triumphed at the inaugural event in 2017.
“We realised farmers needed the opportunity to be contacted by potential buyers in a very simple way and this rewarding application came out of a hackathon,” Minister Hughes said.
Meanwhile, in expressing the desire to see more women involved in the competition, the minister said reports point to 70 percent of the jobs worldwide requiring some ICT-related knowledge by 2025.
“We want Guyanese to not only be the users of technology, but we want them as the developers also,” she pointed out.
Teams comprising two to five persons with mandatory expectations that there is one female participant, and one student, ideally from the University of Guyana, are welcome to enter the competition.
Minister Hughes noted that these stipulations provide the opportunity for women and young adults to succeed in the ICT arena.
The winners will receive a contract to complete the app for the GGMC, and the second and third place winners will receive $300,000 and $200,000 respectively.
Interested teams can register on the ministry’s website, www.mopt.gov.gy.
