GBV JHB Virtual Hackathon |  3 – 11 Oct 2020

We’re excited to kick-off the second leg of the Silicon Cape Hackathon series taking place in Johannesburg 2020, like this this year we have decided to remain with the topic of Gender Based Violence.

Every three hours a woman is murdered in South Africa[i]. What’s more, the country has the fourth highest female interpersonal violence death rate in the world[ii]. Additionally, South Africa’s rape statistics are amongst the highest globally[iii], with an average of 114 rapes being reported to the police every day[iv].

The theme of gender-based violence like the first Hackthon in Cape Town will remain the focus for the rest of the Hackathons taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg over a one-year period as part of an initiative by the US Embassy in South Africa called Hackathons for South Africa: Digital Solutions for Real World Challenges.

Emerging software developers, IT professionals, trainers, civil society organisations, students, academics and professionals with expertise relevant to the theme are all invited to attend the event and create innovative digital solutions to the problem of gender-based violence.

During the hackathon, attendees will explore what can be done to make communities safer, investigate how best to respond to threats, and produce tech that could save lives.

The winning team will walk away with R25,000, the runner up will receive R15,000 and there will be R5,000 in spot prizes up for grabs. What’s more, with implementation partner Silicon Cape being an ecosystem enabler for tech-enabled startups, the winner will be connected with accelerators, mentors and other relevant community members such as developers, angel investors and venture capitalists to help bring their solution to life. Amazon Web Services will also give the winning team access to the low cost, easy-to-use infrastructure needed to scale and grow via the AWS Activate programme which includes benefits like $10,000 worth of AWS Promotional Credits, valid for two years; AWS Business Support valued at $5,000 which is valid for up to one year and a solution architect technical white-boarding session.