Last week, our students participated in the Data Respons Hackathon held by YABS AB from Sylog in Stockholm. The event was aimed at all subsidiaries of the Data Respons Group and was themed "Charity and Technology".

For years, Data Respons has supported the commitment of the NGO Gatubarn i Nepal to improve the living conditions of local children. The organisation has set itself the long-term goal of building basic infrastructure in Nepalese villages, enabling children to attend school and protecting the future of young girls.

Divided into teams, the students worked on digital solutions within 24 hours to improve the work of the NGO and bring about sustainable change. After a joint breakfast, the students were welcomed by representatives of Data Respons and the NGO and the task and theme of the hackathon were presented. Each subsidiary provided a team and the participants spread out in the office space.

The Hackathon started at 10:00 a.m. sharp and our students brainstormed initial ideas. After a productive discussion, the team decided to develop a centralized portal for the exchange of information between the NGOs as well as the coordination of their own projects. In the next step, a joint product vision was developed with the help of the design thinking approach. The core features for the MVP were defined on this basis. Then it was time for a well-deserved lunch break.

The afternoon was dominated by structural decisions. The team divided into frontend and backend working groups and exchanged ideas with the other teams over a Swedish coffee party - fika - with delicious coffee and sweet cinnamon buns.

Now that the assignment of tasks had been clarified, the back-end team set about developing the database. The frontend team first defined a UX concept and implemented the ideas based on it. The project was worked on intensively until the evening, so a short break with pizza and cool drinks came in handy. The break was used to recharge the batteries for the night session. During the night session, the application was coded and fine-tuned until 10:00 the next morning, and the team succeeded in implementing the ambitious MVP in the allotted time.

At the end of the hackathon, all teams presented their projects and the best among them was awarded a prize. The ideas ranged from innovative games and apps to a digital art gallery for children. Even though our team did not manage to take first place in the end, there was a lot of praise for our product, which was the most advanced in its implementation from a technical point of view.

But the finale of the hackathon was not the end of the journey for our students. A joint lunch and dinner were the perfect conclusion to this exciting excursion.

We are proud of the result and the participation of our students and the opportunity to make a small contribution to improving opportunities for disadvantaged children.