2015-04-28

The IBM Hackathon

Take part in the IBM hackathon with @IBMBluemix at re:publica #rp15: Who can build the best "social data app"? Harald Uebele, Cloud Technical Evangelist at IBM, explains all about it. #IBMHack #rp15 

re:publica is one of the world’s top events for bloggers, social media activists and all things digital society. Attracting a particularly communicative crowd who always have something to say, social networks and especially the Twittersphere will be abuzz during #rp15.

Following IBM’s recent collaboration agreement with Twitter, we’re especially intrigued as to what information can be gained from Twitter and the #rp15 tweets. This is why we will be staging a hackathon on the subject in collaboration with re:publica. By the way, a “hackathon” has nothing to do with hacking (illegally entering into computer systems and networks); a hackathon is a competition in which various people (developers, designers, etc.) race to develop an app relating to a certain subject in a set amount of time, ideally in teams. It’s not only a question of creativity in terms of the code; design and presentation are equally important. And, of course, it’s also supposed to be fun. Entitled “Who can build the best social data app?” the challenge facing hackathonistas at the #IBMHack is to extract useful and/or creative information from the tweets. The standard is pretty high, but as Berlin is a magnet for creative minds from all walks of life and areas of expertise, this shouldn’t pose a problem.

IBM Bluemix will be used as the tool and platform for the social data app – a cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) developed by IBM, based on Cloud Foundry open technology. Within minutes, Bluemix can provide the framework for the app. The services required for the app can be instantly generated from the Bluemix catalog of services and APIs. The IBM Insights for Twitter service, which provides access to live and archived Twitter data, is sure to be crucial for the social data app. Participants will also have the Bluemix DevOps Services tool to hand, which allows one or several developers to work on the code simultaneously. As it is purely browser-based, they do not need to install anything on their own computers. The code is deployed directly in Bluemix and is thus instantly available on the Internet.

I have never been to a re:publica, and I’m sure it’s very different from the standard IT fairs I generally have to attend. I’m really looking forward to it, especially the results of the hackathon!

Learn more about the hackathon in its session:
"IBM Bluemix – Apps in der Cloud entwickeln: Social-Media-Hackathon von IBM und re:publica #IBMHack #rp15"
Tuesday, May 5th, from 12:15 to 13:15 on stage 8

Follow the presentation of the winners here:
"And the winner is ... Social-Media-Hackathon von IBM und re:publica #IBMHack #rp15"
 Thursday, May 7th, from 17:30 to 18:00 on stage 8

Besides the hackathon there are so many more versatile Ignite Talks at the IBM booth. Come by! Read more here.

photo credit: Sebastiaan ter Burg "Wikimedia Hackathon 2013, Amsterdam"(CC BY 2.0

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IBM