As global warming in Southern Africa occurs at double the global average rate, the impacts of climate change are expected to have a devastating effect on the region.

It, therefore, becomes imperative to combat the impact of climate change as it is key to maintaining the health and safety of all. However, this will require bright ideas and tech-driven solutions.

Based on the above, Silicon Cape and the U.S. Consulate General Johannesburg are hosting the fourth and final hackathon in the Building Community Hackathons series, “Changing Climate Change”.

This is aimed at encouraging innovative thinking for solving real-world challenges faced by South Africans and it will be a virtual event slated for Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March 2022.

The hackathon will allow participants to meet industry experts and come up with innovative and socially impactful digital solutions to prevent and combat climate change in South Africa.

In addition to the hackathon, a virtual Bootcamp will take place from Tuesday, 22 March to Friday, 25 March, for participants to learn more about prototyping, design thinking, sustainability, and pitch practice.

Emerging software developers, IT professionals, civil society organizations, academics, and professionals in relevant fields of climate change and technology are encouraged to take part.

Benefits

Participants will pitch their ideas to the esteemed Judging panel on Saturday, 26 March 2022, with the winning team receiving R25,000, and the runner-up receiving R15,000. There will also be spot prizes of R5,000 up for grabs.

In addition, Silicon Cape will help bring the winning team’s solution to life as they’ll have access to developers, angel investors, and venture capitalists.

The winning team will also have access to the low-cost, easy-to-use infrastructure needed to scale and grow, through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Activate program. This includes $10,000 worth of AWS Promotional Credits, valid for two years; AWS Business Support valued at $5,000, valid for up to one year, and a solution architect technical whiteboarding session.

For more information, click here.

Interested in being a change agent and work towards building a solution that can change the world? Fill out the climate change hackathon participant sign pp form here.

If you are a climate change and/or technical expert that is well versed in business models, then fill out the SCAction climate hackathon mentor form here.

For media queries, contact Phoebe Opperman: [email protected], 072-368-0440.