We initiated a major Hackathon, in collaboration with IBM, within a few weeks of the super-cyclone Fani hitting our XUB campus. We garnered support from the Odisha Govt. and reached out to many tech companies and IT developers in Odisha.
The Call-for-Code Odisha Day Hackathon was an invitation to all developers in or connected to Odisha to develop applications to combat the aftermath of disasters such as Fani, the recent super-cyclone that devastatingly swept across the State. The event was a call to all developers, academicians, and students to develop a technology-based solution to mitigate the negative impact of natural disasters.
Call for Code 2019 is a developer learning journey that challenges them to ideate and build a technology-based solution to mitigate the negative impact of natural disasters. This ‘journey’ takes the form of a hackathon, though, to motivate developers to put on their thinking/innovation caps! There were nearly five hundred registrations for this hugely successful event that received nation-wide coverage and consequent publicity for Xavier University. The inaugural function was presided by Fr. Paul Fernandes S.J., Ex-Vice Chancellor of the Xavier University Bhubaneswar, Sri Bishnupada Sethi IAS, Special Relief Commissioner, Odisha Govt., and Ms. Priya Mallya, Chief of Staff, IBM India Private Limited. The main event, the hackathon, attracted more than 150 participants in 33 teams who showed their scientific imagination along with technical skills. After its conclusion, we followed up with news articles/blogs on this national hackathon.