More than 130 “hackers” will camp out in the Council House for 24 hours to take part in an event that puts the spotlight on Nottingham’s growing status as a centre for tech expertise.
Taking place non-stop over 19-20 March, Hack24 will see up to 50 teams of software engineers and developers come together to tackle a series of coding challenges set by sponsor companies.
Hack24 is officially supported by Nottingham City Council and will be opened by Councillor Nick McDonald, Portfolio Holder for Jobs, Growth and Transport, making it the first event of its kind to have the backing of its city.
Cllr McDonald said “Nottingham is a young, vibrant and entrepreneurial city and the creative industries are an increasingly important part of the city’s jobs market, attracting some of the best creative and tech talent in the UK.
“We recognise the importance of nurturing creative enterprise and our Growth Hub Team are here to support and guide people who are growing a business to help stimulate our local economy.
“We’re delighted to be the first local authority to actively support this type of event which showcases our creative tech community and helps to encourage talent.”
Hack24 is organised by Tech Nottingham – a voluntary organisation that brings together technical people in and around Nottingham. Run by husband and wife team Andrew and Emma Seward, their aim is to improve Nottingham as a place to work in the tech industry.
Contrary to popular belief, hacking is not always a negative thing. Hacking events typically involve teams of technical people working together to create new coding to form websites, mobile apps and robots.
Notable examples include the Facebook “Like” button and Facebook Chat which both first started at internal company hackathons.
One of last year’s Hack24 winners – Team Big Button – manipulated the coding of an existing digital calendar to turn in into an app that could remind someone with dementia to take medicine or alert them of important appointments.
Event organiser Andrew Seward, of Tech Nottingham, said: “It’s a great opportunity for designers, developers and programmers to collaborate and feel the satisfaction of making something.
“Last year’s inaugural event at the Broadway Cinema was so popular that it sold out in under a minute. It felt like it was the tech community acknowledging itself.
“This year, the event has doubled in size and we’ve moved to the next level. Now the tech community is announcing itself to Nottingham and the rest of the world! Hack24 underlines that Nottingham is now a national centre for technology businesses and technology talent.
Emma Seward added: “We’re delighted to have the support of the City Council for Hack24. It means so much to us and the event sponsors that the city is embracing its growing technology scene. And to have it hosted at the Council House is just wonderful – we hope that it will be Hack24’s home for years to come!”
The 2016 Hack24 event is sponsored by leading tech companies including Nottingham’s Blenheim Chalcot, Cronofy and esendex.