On February 1st Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh discussed in a speech at Panasci Chapel the Syracuse Civic Hackathon: Plowing Through the Data. An event aimed at bringing together “technologists, designers, developers” to “assist the City of Syracuse in addressing snow removal from the City’s public roads.” The event is a partnership between Syracuse University iSchool and the City of Syracuse.

But what is a hackathon?

This is an event that usually, not always, lasts 24 hours. The event attracts persons interested in technology, and those persons are asked to build a program or solution for a specific purpose, or the task is open-ended. Once that time period is complete, participants come together for judging. A civic hackathon, focuses on solving problems in your community.

This hackathon has no physical space to do your work, but all applicants are encouraged to attend the Snow Safety Summit on February 15th, Syracuse City’s Innovation Team will lead the discussion. This event is open to the public as well, so participants can understand what issues city residents are facing. The summit will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Dr. Weeks Elementary School, 710 Hawley Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13203. Participants will also have the opportunity to have virtual office hours with iSchool faculty from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm February 20th.

All projects are due by March 1st, and the winners will be announced by the iSchool on March 7th.

The available data and team registration can be found at https://ischool.syr.edu/landing-pages/civic-hackathon-plowing-through-the-data.