Hack to the Future – at Greenbelt and beyond

CMS web developer Madeline Linnell has news about a new project to hack solutions to pioneer problems

The word “hackathon” may be unfamiliar to you, but the idea of it is closely aligned with the pioneer ethos in that it’s all about creativity, innovation and collaboration.

A hackathon is a time-bound event that invites techies and others to build a solution to a named problem statement.

The pioneer team plans to participate in a hackathon in October 2023, and in so doing, calls for the insight and input of pioneers or those with a pioneering mindset.

The team will also share about the project at Greenbelt Festival (24–27 August) during a session called “Tech for Good” and you’re invited to join us.

So what’s the problem?

You may be wondering, but why are the pioneers getting involved in a hackathon? What’s this all about anyway? The simple answer: we want to create a resource for the pioneer programme that will actually be helpful.

A hackathon is a means of building said resource. But we can’t know what will be helpful without learning from you about the problems you are facing and the questions you are asking.

We need to do a listening exercise to uncover problems pioneers are grappling with.

Maybe pioneers could benefit from more collaboration, but need a consolidated platform to connect. Maybe pioneers want a means to measure their impact but don’t know where to begin. Maybe pioneers want to cultivate an online community that fosters meaningful dialogue about dinosaurs and God. Who knows?! Whatever the outcome, we want to hear from you.

Join us at Greenbelt

The Pioneer team will be asking similar questions during a “Tech for Good” session at Greenbelt. The presentation will share about the project, what we hope to achieve and why a hackathon is a useful and fun way to go about it.

We will facilitate a discussion as well, asking the questions pioneers like to ask (questions like, “What are you dissatisfied by, and why?”). If you plan to attend Greenbelt, please do join us!

Hoped-for hackathon

Once identified, the pioneer team will submit the problem statement to an annual, faith-based hackathon called Kingdom Code (13–14 October).

Kingdom Code invites organisations to submit their problems, accepts a couple of them and distributes these problems among software developers and others to create solutions.

Our hope of course is that our problem statement will be accepted by the hackathon, but there’s no guarantee. Regardless, the listening exercise will expose problems CMS can then do its utmost to respond to, ideate around and learn from.

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