Motorola Solutions' 2017 Hackathon

Motorola Solutions has announced the return of its Hackathon, which will take place in Sydney from 13–15 September. The 2017 event will focus on developing applications to benefit public safety organisations in Australia.

The hackathon is a fast-paced, 48-hour challenge which starts with government and public safety agencies issuing ‘problem statements’ to developers, who then develop solutions to help overcome the problems.

The goal is to develop apps to help Australia’s public safety agencies have better access to information where and when they need it most — by applying the principles of agile development and harnessing and sharing critical information with and between public safety agencies, first responders and the community.

Platforms created by developers will remain their own IP and they will be free to develop them further after the hackathon, with support from Motorola Solutions if they so wish.

The NSW Telco Authority, NSW State Emergency Services and the NSW Department of Environment and Heritage are among government and public safety agencies participating in the event.

Last year’s winner, Fleetsu, has flourished in the past year on the back of winning the 2016 Hackathon, including almost tripling the size of the business, growing the team from five to nine people, winning new contracts (including one with one of Australia’s largest heavy hauling companies) and setting up a satellite office in Brisbane.

Fleetsu’s fleet asset management app was designed and developed to optimise and coordinate the use of vehicles, machinery and other equipment.

The WA-based start-up received $30,000 in cash from Motorola Solutions and the Queensland government, plus a further $15,000 of in-kind support from Amazon Web Services to accelerate the development and take-up of the platform.

“The hackathon was a real turning point in terms of helping us to grow and becoming more competent and mature as a business,” said Jakub Felinski, Fleetsu’s CEO. “Since then we have narrowed our focus, becoming more niche and pursuing the right opportunities to enable further growth and success.

“The relationship with Motorola Solutions has also been extremely valuable, not only in terms of the reward of recognition, but opening up access to things that a company of our size doesn’t have access to,” he added.

“For example, gaining access to Motorola’s intelligent middleware platform to further develop our solution, making introductions to professional networks and giving us access to people with specialised skills and expertise who can help us in other ways.”

“Like many sectors, the critical communications industry is undergoing disruption and change. At the same time our customers are experiencing considerable change, including greater pressure on their costs and resources as well as the emergence of new threats to the community and their businesses,” said Steve Crutchfield, vice president and managing director ANZ, Motorola Solutions.

“To succeed in this new world, our business needs to continue to evolve and to bring fresh skills, thinking and talent to solve a new set of challenges,” he added.

“Our hackathons help us to enrich our approach to innovation and to design and develop much-needed technology solutions.”

Motorola Solutions is calling for more software developers to join the event. Interested parties should email Kym Little (kym.little@motorolasolutions.com) or call her on 0422 136 008.

Image courtesy Motorola Solutions.

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