BGU Students Develop Apps for Google Hackathon Event
BGU Students Develop Apps for Google Hackathon Event
December 12, 2013
Business & Management, Negev Development & Community Programs, Press Releases, Robotics & High-Tech
BEER-SHEVA, Israel, December 12, 2013 – The Google Developers Group (GDG) held its first Hackathon event in Southern Israel at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). BGU’s students were on teams that placed in the top three. They competed against teams from four countries, including the United States and Israel.
Held throughout the year, this Google GDG Hackathon focused on creating apps that can be used in regional development projects.
The “weCare! Team,” comprised of BGU students from the Department of Information Systems Engineering, won first place with an expert locator app. The app was able to identify topical experts even if they were living and working in another continent.
BGU’s “Regional” and “Goodly” student teams tied for second and third place. Regional is an app that connects regional councils with their residents and enables them to report hazards quickly. Goodly is a platform developed to recruit volunteers and sponsors for projects.
The top three winning groups received $20,000 each and will have the opportunity to compete in the second stage, an extensive global competition.
“This initial collaboration between Google, GDG Beer-Sheva and BGU was very exciting and successful,” said Prof. Daphna Schwartz, director of BGU’s Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship & Hi-Tech Management, which organized the Hackathon.
“The intention is to continue this collaboration to foster economic growth in the Negev and this event is part of that concept.”
The event also marks the start of a series of expert meetings, which will take place throughout the year at BGU. Google’s Hackathon took place simultaneously among GDG groups in four countries, including two in the U.S. in South Jordan, Utah and at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Google Developer Groups from Tanzania and Bangladesh also took part.
In Israel, as many as 200 technologically advanced contestants from Beer-Sheva and the Negev participated at BGU’s campus event. Some 70 more Israelis participated in the north of the country led by GDG Haifa and GDG Nazareth.
The GDG Hackathon, initiated and led by the BGU Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship & Hi-Tech Management at the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, was the first event of its type in the Negev.
It represented an opportunity for developers to gather to collaborate on software projects, in this case supported by Google. A Google Developer Group can take many forms, but at the core is focused on developers and technical content.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
For all press inquiries, please contact:
James Fattal, J Cubed Communications
516.289.1496
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