Following the tradition of many years Hackathon [YAN] unites various innovative adults, specialists from IT and other sectors for a twenty-four-hour huge feast/contest. If you have ever participated in one of the Hackathons, you will also add ‘a sleepless night, red eyes, tasty unhealthy food and cool environment’ to the above-mentioned description. For organizers Hackathon means more than 60 teams, who work the whole night (‘please sleep a little bit, give us some rest’), endless questions, but anyway pleasant environment and cool people.

How was the idea of Hackathon introduced in Armenia? 

A few years ago Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia in cooperation with Public Journalism Club decided to conduct the first Hackathon [YAN]. This contest of international format raised huge interest from the beginning, and more than 35 teams applied and developed solutions to various problems related to environment, transportation, health protection, education and tourism in Yerevan. Who would have thought that the platform 4car, which is currently the most visited website by Armenian drivers is the result of Hackathon [YAN] 2011? Penalty fees, real estate tax, any information related to cars can be found on this website, the idea of which occurred to a group of students within 24 hours. Later, they turned the idea into a startup, which operates actively till now and became a very sustainable business.  Microsoft Innovation Center involved them in the Startup Acceleration Program, which enabled them develop their product from one function, that is informing about car tickets through text messages, to a multi-functional tool, which has more than 50,000 users. The startup has attracted also seed funding from various investors. 

Interesting participants, jury members, good people 

All Hackathon [YAN] participants, despite their success or failure in the contest, always mention, ' it was a lot of fun, there were a lot of people, specialists from leading companies…’ Hackathon [YAN] unites not only students who are still new in programming but also professional developers, enterprises, specialists of various fields, who provide assistance to the teams. Hackathon [YAN] is a great opportunity to establish relations within IT community and make new connections. Very often people who met at the Hackathon, later come together and establish their own startups. We have seen many of such cases. The last round of Startup Acceleration Program involved two teams, which were established in the result of friendship, established during the Hackathon [YAN] 2014. 

Prizes

When a contest is announced, all interested applicants first of all check out the prizes. Hackathon [YAN] is not an exception and the prizes vary from financial assistance, valuable equipment to infrastructure support, provided to turn the idea into a startup. 

What to expect from Hackathon [YAN] of this year?

Every year Hackathon [YAN] presents a new format, interesting tidings and an unexpected venue. This year will not be an exception. There will be many interesting prizes, designed for winners, at the same time a few teams will have a chance to be involved in the startup acceleration program. 

Arm yourselves with patience, innovative ideas and good teammates. 

 

 

 

 

 

  -   Science and Technology