Innovation in the transformation of the city is the theme of the exhibition that currently lives at Porto Innovation Hub (PIH). Contribute to the transformation and growth of the economy by affirming the city as a living lab, putting together all players of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, may at first glance seem a complex concept. However, the city continues to prove that concepts only make sense when they jump from paper to practice. June 2nd and 3rd are another example of this.
On June 2nd, around 6:30pm, about two dozen people, from entrepreneurs to students, invaded Porto Innovation Hub to participate in the 3rd edition of Hackacity. Starting from Big Data, provided by cities like Porto, Santander, Utrecht, Zagreb and others, the participants dedicated 24 hours to the analysis of that data trying to contribute, using technology, to improve the lives of habitants or visitors of these cities.
Participants were introduced, teams formed and the challenge began. The tech marathon started with the purpose of helping to transform the city where they live, work or study. To sweeten the challenge, popcorns invaded the PIH at 1 am. Motivated and with full tummy (with a propoer supper), the participants continued the work “all night long”, sharing opinions and tips with each other.
From hackers to ninja, at 5 am., everyone was invited to wake up body and mind with a group activity. Everyone entered the spirit of the game and 10 minutes later returned to work a bit more awake. Each team was looking for the best method to overcome the fatigue that increses hour after hour. If some teams tried to stay awake, others preferred to take turns and sleep a few hours. The sound of Mexican music (to everyone’s surprise) at 8 o’clock woke up everyone. The space had been “invaded” by cheerful Mariachis who made sure that no participant slept more than they should.
Super tired, but in a good mood, teams returned to work after breakfast for a sprint to the podium. At 6:00pm, the marathon ended with each team presenting the solutions developed, for the jury composed by Paulo Calçada from Porto Digital, Vasco Lagarto from Tice.pt and Ricardo Vitorino from Ubiwhere.
It was already in party mood (Start & Scale Closing Party) and after much deliberation, that the winners were announced. Before meeting the winners, Filipe Araújo, Councilor for Innovation and Environment at the Municipally of Porto, congratulated all the participants and highlighted the importance of the data in the decision making process and therefore this type of events for the growth of the city.
Paulo Calçada had the difficult job to announce the winners of the 3rd edition of Hackacity. “Ecopath” was the big winner. The team consisting of Diogo, a medical student, Sofia, graphic designer and service designer, Ricardo data analyst and Ricardo Queirós software developer and cyber security, has developed an application that allows users to choose the most ecological path to travel, combining other factors such as time and costs associated with the journey. This combinations of backgrounds is a good example that an hackathon is not just made out of developers.
“Aracélio” team, which developed an application that allows users to create tourist itineraries, thus allowing to know places usually not explored by tourists, but with a strong Porto identity, was the 2nd winning solution.
And, last but not least: Airwave takes 3rd place on the podium. The application not only allow users to know the air quality, but also have the ability to send a notification when air quality is low alerting users suffering from respiratory problems, for instance, for outdoor sports.
The Start & Scale Week ended as it began, in celebration and with great desire to make the city of Porto an international reference for entrepreneurship and innovation.
