What the Digital Solutions Hackathon taught us

South Africa has been facing gender-based violence for a long time now. Statistics show that every three hours a woman is murdered. The rape statistics are also alarming with an average of 114 rapes reported every dayⁱ. In such a dire situation, The US Embassy in South Africa partnered with The Silicon Cape Initiative to host digital solutions hackathon targeting real-world challenges like unemployment, mental health, gender-based violence, etc. A six-member team from the ITC Infotech South Africa-Graduate Program participated in this digital solutions hackathon.

ITC Infotech graduates had the privilege to be a part of this initiative that aims to combat the gender-based violence crisis. The Infotitans came up with a well-defined solution securing them the bronze medal.

The team conceptualized a community-based platform that brings together people from different walks of life to unitedly fight the menace of gender-based violence. The technologies that are integrated to help solve this crisis include a mobile app that allows the user to be tracked by syncing the app with another wearable tracking device. The responders include drones, the police, trusted members, and the community at large. It is a futuristic revolutionary tech concept and we are proud of this solution. It was not just accepted and appreciated, but it met the criteria set by the judges as well.

I was amazed, excited, and humbled to see our entire team come together to develop this concept that has the potential to impact and change so many lives, thereby making our society a safer place. The best moments were created while turning nothing into something. The team’s enthusiasm, passion, eagerness to give back to society, hunger to learn, and make a difference made me a very proud mentor. I learned that we, as the youth of Africa and the world, must stand up and fight for our future generations. Moments like these are a wake-up call to use technology judiciously and to bring about a positive change in society.

I commend the dedication and the spirit of teamwork that helped us win the bronze medal. There could never be a substitute for having a great team, unified in achieving a common goal. I had the privilege to mentor six brilliant individuals and bind them together for a period of three weeks. The experience taught me a lot about the utilization and management of people’s skills in the right way. The welfare of the team was as important as achieving the job at hand. I also learned the importance of task tracking, product building, and how to make a good sales pitch.

Interacting with diverse people teaches you how different minds work, what their thought processes are like; it is like a rainbow, different colors, but beautiful when brought together. I am grateful to have been able to stitch together these young minds into creating a meaningful and substantial solution for the wellbeing of society.

Author:

Tebatso Msiza
Associate IT Consultant

Reference:

i. https://buildcommunityhackathons.co.za/virtual-hackathan.html