Motorola Solutions hackathon returns

Motorola Solutions’ 2018 hackathon will see public safety agencies challenge application developers to race against the clock to come up with new solutions that will make communities safer.

To be held in Melbourne from 14 to 16 May, and now in its third year, the hackathon aims to stimulate the agile development of new applications.

Developer teams will have just 44 hours to come up with working applications that will support first responders and other emergency workers.

Organisations such as Victoria Police, Victoria State Emergency Service, Ambulance Victoria and Crime Stoppers Tasmania will work with the teams to solve the sort of real-world challenges they face in their daily work.

Participants this year include online social impact firm Battlerz, communications firm Mastercom and student teams from Melbourne University, RMIT and Swinburne.

The winners will be awarded $25,000 and given support to further develop the solutions and make them commercially available. The teams will retain full IP rights.

Previous winners gained significant momentum and growth following their participation in the Motorola Solutions hackathons.

The winner in 2016, Western Australian developer Fleetsu, used its victory to gain entry into new markets, increasing its staffing levels and opening a new office in Brisbane.

Last year’s winner, Northern Territory-based Radical Systems, also experienced considerable growth after winning the event.

“Our hackathons have really helped to accelerate growth and new opportunities for all participants,” said Steve Crutchfield, vice president and managing director, Motorola Solutions Australia and New Zealand.

“Even more importantly, these events have helped Australia’s emergency services and developer teams to realise how much they can achieve together to address real-world needs within the rapidly changing public safety and security landscape,” he added.

“Working closely with developers through the hackathon also injects fresh energy into our business and complements the investment we continue to make with our growing graduate program.”

This year’s event will see Motorola Solutions’ CommandCentral Aware platform used to integrate voice, video and data intelligence sources to provide deeper insights for emergency services organisations.

“Through the use of advanced command centre technologies including CommandCentral, this year’s event will take collaboration and solutions development between public safety agencies and developers to new heights,” Crutchfield said.

The 2018 event will take place at PwC Melbourne on Riverside Quay. Further information can be obtained from Aditi Sabnis on 0451 211 386 or aditi.sabnis@motorolasolutions.com.

Image courtesy Motorola Solutions.

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