[okfn-za] Space Apps Challenge in South Africa

Wed Jan 20 08:46:49 UTC 2016

Hello again,

Following up on this briefly - mostly for the benefit of anyone in Cape
Town. The deadline for signing up to host an event is February 24. If
you would like to plug into a hive of cross-disciplinary makers, modders
and hackers, then I suggest attending the next Modern Alchemists meetup
on Wednesday, January 27 at 27 Caledon Street, Cape Town [1][2]. I've
started a thread on their Facebook group about this [3]. They seem to be
interested in organising an event, and I suspect would be open to
collaboration with developers, technologists, and others. Please feel
free to add your thoughts, if you do Facebook.

Here's hoping for imaginative applications of NASA's open data that
inspire the next generation of openness crusaders! Squid robots, data
viz, food printers, "ice fishing" on Europa, and more. Hack the planet!

[1] https://www.facebook.com/events/1098854110138680
[2]
http://www.meetup.com/KAT-O-KickAssTech-Obviously-a-k-a-ArduinoCapeTown/events/227311905
[3]
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ModernAlchemistsZA/permalink/1696134927276220

Cheers,
h.

On Wed, 2016-01-13 at 09:40 +0200, Hein Bekker wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> As you might know, there's a global hackathon [1] in April using NASA
> open data "with a goal to produce open-source solutions that can advance
> space exploration missions and improve life on Earth." They have a handy
> info sheet with all the details [2]. Last year there were events in
> Pretoria, PE, and Durban (according to their site). Check out their site
> for examples from last year [3]. To do this, one needs a venue that's
> available overnight. Other requirements are in the info sheet.
> 
> Rough timeline by my estimation:
> * End of January - might be prudent for lead organiser to sign up [4]
> the host city on the site (I can't find a deadline)
> * End of February/start of March - confirm venue
> * March - possible Data Bootcamp (see info sheet p.9 for details)
> * March ~21 - pre-event meet-up for participants to form teams and
> brainstorm about challenges
> * April 22-24 - event
> 
> I reckon it's a great opportunity for education and bringing together
> the open, hardware, software, and science scenes. I'd like to see it
> happen, and I can provide moral support, but I can't lead this mission
> in the next few months.
> 
> Let's organise and make it so! Especially in Cape Town. Slaapstad,
> shem ;-)
> 
> [1] https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org
> [2] https://speakerdeck.com/nasa/space-apps-event-planning-kit
> [3] https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org/project
> [4] https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org/2016-registration
> 
> Thanks,
> h.
> 

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