Creative minds develop sustainable digital business models in 24 hours
The first 24-hour hackathon, Code4Green, hosted by the Federal Environment Ministry took place on 4 and 5 November. Over the course of one day and one night, 65 innovative young professionals developed prototypes for sustainable digital business models on circular economy and pollution control. Environment State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth presented awards to three teams which developed a navigation app for cycling, a shopping app with a plastic footprint calculator and a city toll app with dynamic pricing.
State Secretary Flasbarth remarked: “Digitalisation provides new opportunities for combining innovation, employment and sustainability. It is impressive and encouraging to see that the teams could develop such innovative and practical new applications in such a short time."
Data on circular economy and air pollution control for the first BMU hackathon was provided by the Federal Environment Ministry, its subordinate authorities and private companies. 65 young professionals, including coders, innovators, developers and designers divided into nine teams used the data provided to develop prototypes for digital applications and business models within 24 hours.
A jury comprising experts of the Open Knowledge Foundation, N3xtcoder, CodeControl, Roland Berger and the BMU evaluated the projects. State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth awarded a total of three teams with two first prizes and one second prize:
One first prize was awarded to team Clean Maps that developed a navigation app for cyclists and pedestrians based on current pollution control and traffic data, which brings road users to their destinations via alternative, less polluted routes. In addition, the app can be integrated into bonus programmes of the health sector.
The other first prize was given to team Impack! for the development of an app which calculates the plastic footprint of supermarket products by scanning their barcodes. This raises the awareness of packaging waste among customers in a playful way.
The second prize was awarded to team Cito, which developed a model for a city toll with dynamic pricing based on data regarding current and forecasted pollution and traffic.
The three winning teams will receive prize money (4,000 euros each for the first and 2,000 euros for the second prize), coaching and professional advice to further develop their business models.