This year's Hackathon event of Akbank LAB brought together technology enthusiasts to develop solutions that will protect and save lives before, during and after natural disasters. The finalist of the event organized with the theme of 'Disaster Technologies' was PharGen-Z, while the second prize went to the City Guard team and the third prize to Terappim.
Akbank focused on disaster technologies this year in the Hackathon competition, which focuses on creating value with the restorative power of finance and technology. Organized in cooperation with Akbank LAB and imece, Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech started online on October 14th. With the goal of creating a safer, resilient and inclusive society by using the power of technology in the field of disaster management, 33 selected teams developed projects. In the final of the competition held on October 22nd at Sabancı Center, 10 different ideas were presented to the jury for evaluation. Among the successful projects, PharGen-Z, City Guard and Terappim were the winning teams.
Stating that all the projects developed within the scope of the Hackathon are a source of hope for the future, Burcu Civelek Yüce, Executive Vice President of Retail Banking and Digital Solutions at Akbank, said: "In recent disasters, we have seen that product, service and utility developers have developed tools that can help search and rescue activities in a very short period of time. With this in mind, this year we focused our annual Akbank Hackathon events on the development of ideas for pre-disaster, disaster and post-disaster needs. We opened the Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech event with a call for developing solutions for disaster technologies. As Akbank, it is our greatest hope that the outputs of this exciting Hackathon experience will support protecting and saving lives before, during or after disasters."
Akbank Assistant General Manager for People and Culture Pınar Anapa said, "Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech aimed to produce innovative solutions with the support of technology against various risks in the disasters we face. In the Hackathon experience, which started online, teams worked on mitigating and improving the effects of disasters, planning disaster management, and developing logistics facilities in the disaster area in order to shape the disaster technologies of the future. In the panel "Connecting the Dots: Technology, Finance and Humanitarian Aid in Disasters" panel, Akut Foundation, İhtiyaç Haritası and UNDP presented their experiences in this field from an impact perspective, while Ak Portföy, Turkey Informatics Foundation and Microsoft shared their comments from a finance and technology perspective. We believe that this journey, where valuable project ideas are developed, will strengthen disaster management and become a part of the mobilization in our country. I congratulate all our teams, the institutions that guide them, our mentor network and our jury".
The Best and Most Innovative Solutions in Disaster Technologies Competed
At Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech, developers, software developers, designers and students interested in this field focused on developing innovative solutions for disaster management and developing safer and more resilient disaster management systems with technology. The Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech jury, which was dominated by the themes of finance, impact and technology, included Burcu Civelek Yüce, Deputy General Manager of Retail Banking and Digital Solutions at Akbank, and Pınar Anapa, Deputy General Manager of People and Culture at Akbank, representing the finance focus; Esra Arslan, Board Member of İhtiyaç Haritası, and Gülşah Eker, Solution Mapping Manager at UNDP Acceleration Lab, representing the impact focus; and Cavit Yantaç, Deputy General Manager of Customer Experience at Microsoft Turkey, and Duygu Ateş, Deputy General Manager of Financial Services and Public Customers Sales at Microsoft Turkey, representing the technology expertise.
As a result of the evaluations made by the jury members, the first team among the Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech finalists was awarded 100,000 TL, the second team 60,000 TL and the third team 40,000 TL.
PharGen-Z, which won the first prize at the hackathon, responds to a critical need in the field of healthcare services after a disaster. The team's 'Medicine Cabinet' project is based on the idea of creating a platform for patients to quickly and easily access the medication support they need during disasters. In this context, the team evaluated the problems in the field of pharmacy and healthcare services and developed an application that brings patients and pharmacists together directly or through drug requests, enabling pharmacists to deliver the medication they need to patients in the right quantities in a coordinated manner.
The second prize winner City Guard team developed the 'Sense Earth' project for the detection of damaged buildings and areas after a disaster with the help of modules and sensors. With the project, City Guard focuses on supporting disaster management processes through the rapid detection of collapsed buildings, closed roads or unusable bridges. With the help of modules and sensors powered by solar energy and satellite internet to be placed at strategic points, it is aimed to prevent injuries and loss of life after disasters and to strengthen emergency aid operations.
Terappim won the third prize at the event. The team's solution focuses on alleviating the workload on healthcare personnel after a disaster, while providing fast and reliable service to patients and injured people in need of physical therapy. Thanks to the innovative Terappim mobile application developed for the solution of these needs, physiotherapists can create a personal exercise program for the patient from the movements in the movement library and allow the movements to be performed under supervision with patient pose prediction technology.
A Collective Value Created
Akbank Hackathon: DisasterTech event featured Microsoft, SDG AI Lab and the Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV) with its technology competence, especially in recovery and monitoring solutions, and its experience in transforming Turkey into an information society. İhtiyaç Haritası, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UN Volunteers, which work to support communities in their challenging processes, shared their experiences from the field. Ak Portföy joined the participants to offer guidance on access to financial resources and investment. At the same time, experts from Akut Foundation, Atölye, DNDLAB, Impact Hub Ankara, Sivil Alan Hareket Ağı (Civil Space Movement Network), Mahalle Afet Gönüllüleri (Neighborhood Disaster Volunteers), Menthol Protocol, Teyit.org, Tider, TOG and YUVA, including Akbank volunteers, supported the development of project ideas with their insights and experiences.
The Hackathon event, which will be organized by Akbank LAB next year, will continue to be a catalyst for bringing technological ideas into the ecosystem with its innovative theme.
For more information: www.akbanklab.com/tr/akbank -hackathon-disastertech