ISLAMABAD: The online Civic Hackathon 2020, organised and presented by Telenor Pakistan, Code for Pakistan, and OPEN Islamabad concluded on Monday. The Civic Hackathon brought together a mix of technologists, designers, urban planners, social scientists, NGOs and CSOs, and government, to approach and solve problems digitally.

It was Code for Pakistan's first-ever virtual hackathon organised to solve social and civic problems using technology. Due to the COVID-19, the hackathon was presented online, and the theme for this year included edTech, finTech, health, environment, food security, and public safety.

During the virtual closing ceremony, Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, shared a special message for the participants, before the winning teams were announced. He congratulated all the participants on being an active part of Pakistan's progress towards a bright, digital future.

He also commended their efforts, while advising them to focus entirely on coming up with original solutions, irrespective of the results of the hackathon, because helping others is the only true reward. At least 680 applications were received from 90 cities across Pakistan, and some from abroad, as well.

The first prize of Rs 300,000 was won by Team Satisfire for their women empowerment project, "Ghirasti" a platform for women to share their skills, gain financial independence and develop a strong social network within their communities. Team BioBeing won the second prize of Rs200,000 for their mobile application that helps collect waste cooking oil and converts it to biodiesel.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020