Network Delaware is building off- and online thanks to a new web portal created by the Open Data Challenge winners, Team Community Coders.
After the 48-hour hackathon ending June 4, Community Coders won the $12,500 first place grant to complete their proposed prototype for Network Delaware.
The winning team is comprised of local developers, Mikaila Akeredolu, Kyle McLaughlin, Molly Arant, Vidya Chandrasekhar, and Jennifer McGinty. There were a total of nine teams that presented independent web projects to fulfill the needs of the two nonprofit partners, the Food Bank of Delaware and Network Delaware.
In the spirit of civic tech, challenge goal was to harness the power of public data and develop innovative solutions to real-world problems.
The prizes were a $12,500 and a $5,000 grant, to be used for producing useable technology.
The Delaware Department of State, will award the grants in two stages to incentivize building, testing and launching the technical applications.
Community Coders created a prototype solution web portal that empowers people in the community, whether organizers or volunteers, to access necessary resources, register for events, or host events for local projects.
Community Coder Mikaila Akeredolu wants to “keep up the momentum” and is already researching new technologies to better the portal.
Panelists James Spadola, Director of Business Development for Zipcode Wilmington, Patrick Calahan, Executive Director of Tech Impact, and Jennifer Kmiec Founder of Inspiring Women in STEM chose the winning team.
The weekend-long hackathon was organized by Open Data Delaware in partnership with the Department of State, Government Information Center, Technology Forum of Delaware, Food Bank of Delaware, Network Delaware, and Tech Impact (fiscal sponsor). The event was held at 1313 Innovation (1313 N. Market Street).
Network Delaware, which kicked-off in January 2017, aims to build a grassroots coalition of community organizers and leaders to advocate for sound public policy, issue campaigns, and economic development opportunities that will bring real, sustainable change across the state.
