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TAU CS Student Club is proud to announce its third annual hackathon!
CRISIS TECH
The past couple of years have been a continuous onslaught of once-in-a-lifetime crises. These challenges, ranging from the Covid-19 epidemic to the ongoing "Swords of Iron" war, have pushed humanity to the brink, both globally and locally, and have proved that we can never be too prepared.
In this years' hackathon, we will focus on finding ways to soften the initial blow and shock produced by these said crises.
THE CHALLENGES
Assistance and guidance for individuals
The beginning of an emergency is an especially uncertain and difficult time for all of us, wherein Each individual must make critical decisions without prior experience or any understanding of the event's complexity.
Develop a solution to empower individuals with the knowledge and confidence to effectively handle the initial hours of the crisis.
Some examples are: survival guides, Decision Support Systems, Personalized Psychological Support, etc.
Volunteer Management
In emergencies, mutual support and individual efforts can greatly change the outcome.
Design a platform to efficiently manage volunteers, enable quick profiling and project creation, and ensure accessibility, flexibility, and adaptability.
Existing solutions in the market (e.g., “Yedidim" or "Tribuo") should be reviewed extensively to understand existing platforms and their limitations should you decide to tackle this challenge.
Information War
In emergency situations, spreading accurate and reliable information is critical to prevent panic and improve community response.
Develop a technological solution to handle misinformation online.
The system could address either of two problems:
(A) Spotting Disinformation: Identify fake news, deepfakes, fake voices, etc. by cross-referencing specific information or scanning multiple sources to verify it's validity.
(B) Spreading Reliable Information: Use bots or avatars to share trustworthy information in real-time, counter false info, and boost public awareness.
Civilian Command and Control
A key part of handling emergencies is knowing the area and resources. The ability to identify threats, safe zones, evacuation points, and open or blocked routes as well as communicate this information effectively is essential for survival.
Develop a system that will ensure communication, information sharing and reporting within the community and among civilians.
Consider scenarios where conventional infrastructures like electricity, internet, or GPS fail.
Maintaining Emergency Readiness
The shift from everyday life to emergency is immediate and unexpected, requiring major effort to keep things running. Being prepared greatly improves the handling of real-time crises.
Develop a tech solution that will help citizens and communities stay prepared for emergencies and transition more effectively from routine to crisis.
Safe Online Environment
Emergencies generate extensive verbal and graphic information the internet. Controlled use and exposure are important for keeping content consumers mentally healthy.
Develop a technological solution to create a safe online environment.
The solution could use smart filters to classify and rate content, warn about harmful material, and manage personal exposure.
For more extensive details, refer to our challenge definition document:
DETAILS
WHEN?
July 25-26
~30-hour event
WHERE?
Neiman Library of Exact Sciences and Engineering
Tel Aviv University
WHO?
All undergraduate students
(at least one TAU student in each team)
HOW?
You can register in groups of 3-5 students.
You may also sign up alone or as a pair, and we will match you up with a team!
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
It is important for us to hear from each team prior to the event itself. This is to ensure that the competition is taken seriously by all teams and to help you form your initial idea.
PRIZES
In light of this years' complexity, and in respect to those less fortunate, we have decided to forego a monetary prize this year. All intended cash prizes (in addition to excess funds) will be donated to the charity of the winners' choosing.
nonetheless, the winners will receive the opportunity to continue expanding their idea with the guidance of the startup industry's foremost experts.
NEED TO KNOW
What is a Hackathon?
A collaborative event where people work together to develop innovative solutions to a specific problems. Usually, a hackathon lasts for 24 hours or more.
Who is this event for?
Most accepted participants come with some coding or design background, to make sure they can contribute to the event. If you believe you are able to contribute in another way, we encourage you to apply.
What to prepare before the event?
It's helpful to have an idea of what you want to do before the event, but if you don't, that's okay! The event is designed to give you plenty of time to think and come up with ideas.
Will we get any help?
Of course! We personally picked the brightest minds in the Israeli Hi-Tech industry to provide you with technical and professional guidance throughout the entire event.
What if I don't have a team?
No problem! You can register as a pair/individual and we will help you form a team.
Or join our WhatsApp to find potential teammates.
Any other questions?
Feel free to reach out to anyone on the team or contact us on hackcstau@gmail.com
RESOURCES
Here's a list of tools and databases we recommend you use during the event:
DatA-IL
DatA-IL is a community-led project aimed at making public information more accessible and immediately usable in technological projects.
Their extensive list of projects and tools will be useful in creating your own project, and can serve as a great inspiration.
You can find them HERE.
Governmental Databases
Central Office of Statistics: The Central Office of Statistics holds many relevant Databases which can be found HERE.
GovMap: An interactive API of the map of Israel. Holds relevant geographical data, and can be found HERE.
DataGov: Public databases used by the government, which can be found HERE.
Bright Data
Bright Data is a global technology company that offers web data collection and proxy services.
Additionally, they offer a plethora of widely-used and verified datasets, many of which can be viewed and sampled with a free account HERE (under "Popular pre-built datasets"), as well as many which cannot be freely accessed. If you find a dataset you would like to work with, which is not publicly accessible, make sure to ping us at hackcstau@gmail.com and we will assist you.
*Note: From an initial scanning of the available datasets, we believe most relevant datasets will be under the "social media" category
Also, you can find their site HERE.
GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is a widely used and adopted AI coding assistant, which is available to verified students for free.
Signup for GitHub Copilot is available HERE.
Our Partners
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In Collaboration with:
