What Is HKD (HacKeD)?
HKD (HacKeD) is a series of one-day hackathons taking place across Northern Ireland.
The series will consist of 3 hackathons and a meet-up, running between December 2022 and March 2023. HKD will see hackathons taking place across Northern Ireland with events in Belfast and Derry~Londonderry.
HKD is a place to challenge your current knowledge and gain more, share experiences and skillsets and most of all, have fun with like minded people. HKD promises to be a welcoming environment for all people who love the challenge of creating digital solutions and tools that can make a real impact, no matter their background or their extended knowledge in tech.
Who should attend?
- Undergrad students and interns
- Postgrad students
- AI and ML researchers
- Data scientists
- Software engineers
- Developers
- Problem solvers
So if you like the challenge of creating a solution that can be developed into the next big thing, or you simply like to hack, practice coding and share your knowledge amongst other people with various levels of experience, then we would love to hear from you.
These events will also be great opportunities for students to meet professionals from the tech industry in order to get some hacking tips, but also to exchange and network.
We want to make sure that these hackathons are open to everyone, from tech curious to tech genius. Anyone with a problem solving attitude is welcome to sign up!
Why Attend?
#1 Learn more in 12 hours than in 12 weeks
- Step out of your comfort zone
- Upskill in technologies that are currently in demand
- Fine tune your collaboration skills and work under pressure
- Create something over a day!
#2 No one comes away empty handed… or hungry
- There’ll be prizes for the winning teams but also spot prizes
- We’ll be feeding you lunch and dinner. And snacks. And drinks.
- More surprises to come…
#3 Enjoy a welcoming and collaborative environment
- Learn together and from each other
- Make friends – and who knows, maybe find your startup business partner
- Absolute craic.
#4 Use your skills and start your career
- Get a chance to practice with some like-minded teammates
- Great for networking with influential people about your career
- Chat with experienced professionals and potential employers.
#5 Space for everyone
- HKD will be a welcoming environment for all
- We will have quiet workspaces available.
- Let us know how to make your day more comfortable.
#6 Create something with a beneficial impact and make a difference!
Last but not least!
- Each team has the potential to build the ‘next big thing’ that may affect our lives!
Water Industry in Northern Ireland
Given the relevancy of the Ormeau Baths location, provide insights into the major trends and changes in water usage and consumption in Northern Ireland. You should support your findings/insights using visualisations and relevant datasets, and your project should explore and attempt to explain both positive and negative views.
Suggested points to visit may be (but certainly not limited to):
- Has there been an increase in water consumption in NI?
- What water companies in the utilities sector are responsible for our water services and what are they doing to ensure everyone in NI has access to clean water?
- Is the current water infrastructure supporting / meeting consumer needs?
- What trends can be seen that indicate that there is a need to update the NI water infrastructure?
- How does water usage and consumption in NI compare with the Republic of Ireland, mainland UK and/or other countries?
- Are there any significant events that impacts water usage and consumption rates in NI?
- Are there any areas of Northern Ireland which have seen growth / decline in water consumption?
- How can data/AI/ML be used to make the delivery of clean water to NI households more efficient? Leakage detection etc.?
- How can we save water and use it more resourcefully? What will be the impact(s) of this?
Example data sources (including but not limited to):
- NI Water most recent annual report
- Useful tool for viewing water consumption data for every country, includes multiple filters and indexes
- Drinking water quality in Northern Ireland 2021 report inc. details on supply capabilities and demand
- Water consumption data for England and Wales 2020
- Water consumption data in RoI for the most recently available period (2014-2018 inclusive)
Business Formation in Northern Ireland
In the second half of 2022, there were approximately 2,255 new businesses established in Northern Ireland. This marks a slowdown from previous years; by comparison, there were 2,725 businesses established in Northern Ireland in the last six months of 2019. Levels of new business formation per capita in Northern Ireland were already among the lowest of any region in the OECD group of developed economies.
For the hackathon, identify data driven insights and explore potential answers to the following questions.
You may wish to consider using the following datasets; many others will be relevant also.
- SDBS Structural Business Statistics (ISIC Rev. 4) (oecd.org) regional business statistics
- Business demography, quarterly experimental statistics, low-level geographic breakdown, UK – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
- Companies House data product (this provides data on new company formation and contains postcodes which allow for geographical analysis and industrial sector information)
HacKeD 2.2
The HKD 2.2 will take place at the Ormeau Baths, Belfast.
Delivered in association with Queen’s University Belfast and supported by headline sponsor EY