Vermont’s Fifth Annual HackVT Concentrates its 24-Hour Competition on
Climate Change
BURLINGTON, Vt. - In its fifth year, HackVT is now recruiting teams of
Vermont’s talented, creative minds to dedicate 24 hours of friendly
competition in an effort to help the greenest state in the country continue
its model of environmental innovation. The app-design hackathon runs October
9-10 in Burlington, Vt., and teams of up to five are encouraged to sign up in
advance. Thousands in cash and prizes will be awarded to the top three teams,
as well as a special prize for the best student team.
“Vermont has set aggressive goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by
50 percent by 2028 and 75 percent by 2050,” said Katie Taylor of LaunchVT,
an extension of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber that organizes HackVT.
“During this year’s HackVT, we’re asking Vermonters to put their skills
to the test and help ‘Hack the Climate’ by creating an app that helps
mitigate climate change or focuses on energy production.”
Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and increasing precipitation
impact Vermont’s energy use, water resources, forests, farms, our economy
and how we recreate. As Governor Shumlin stated in 2011, “Climate impacts
in Vermont include the loss of our hardwood trees including Sugar Maples, the
spread of insect pests impacting our forests, waters and public health, and
increased soil erosion.”
As one of the most pressing modern-day challenges, HackVT organizers intend
for this competition and the apps developed to further spark the dialogue on
climate change within the state’s savvy tech community and with such
innovation, put us on a different path forward.
HackVT will be held at the new VCET @ BTV coworking and startup accelerator
space.
Teams may arrive at 3:00 p.m. to set up and start coding, and the event kicks
off at 6:00 p.m. for 24 hours of hacking and creative thinking.
Visit www.HackVT.com to learn more or sign up, and follow the latest updates
via #HackVT on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Presenting sponsors of the
2015 HackVT include LaunchVT, MyWebGrocer, Green Mountain Power, Vermont
Center for Emerging Technologies, Fairpoint Communications and Dealer.com.
United States