Nine teams from high schools, colleges, and professional backgrounds secured $18,000 in awards at the ninth Hawai‘i Annual Code Challenge (HACC) held on November 16 at the University of Hawai‘i West Oʻahu. The event encouraged participants to develop technology applications addressing challenges posed by state departments and community groups.
Participants tackled issues such as enhancing the state's open data portal, improving energy efficiency, and creating a game for identifying bird species in Hawai‘i. Approximately 120 attendees watched as 17 finalist teams presented solutions to six different challenges before a panel of judges. Prizes were awarded across three categories: high/middle school, college, and professional.
Christine M. Sakuda, Hawai‘i Chief Information Officer, expressed pride in the participants' ability to innovate under time constraints. “I am so proud of the teams’ ability to solve these challenges, under the hackathon time constraint, in innovative ways,” she said.
UH President David Lassner highlighted the importance of HACC for skill development. “The HACC is a way we bring together those who want to develop technology solutions with public service providers who have challenges to address," Lassner stated.
The event aims to modernize state functions and services while strengthening the IT workforce pipeline in Hawai‘i. It relies on support from local and national tech businesses along with educational and non-profit partners.
Rick Joyer from Microsoft emphasized their commitment to fostering a vibrant tech community through events like HACC. “Microsoft is incredibly proud to support the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge,” he noted.
For more information about HACC, visit https://hacc.hawaii.gov/