Fishackathon Netherlands – Save The Seas. Support Sustainable Fishing.

Kicking off on Earth Day, and running over the full weekend of April 22-24 at UNESCO World Heritage site  Fort Island IJmuiden, teams of volunteer coders and technologists will consider problem statements from global fisheries experts and work on providing solutions at the first Fishackathon held in the Netherlands. Launched in 2014 by US Secretary of State John Kerry at the Our Ocean conference, Fishackathon 2016 will be held in over 40 cities around the world.

Fishackathon is a wonderful example of how we can use technology to address some of the world’s most challenging issues. As an animal lover, ocean enthusiast, member of the OceanElders and supporter of Ocean Unite, I’m passionate about protecting the ocean and its species, and am looking forward to seeing what wonderful innovations the Fishackathon spurs. I encourage all coders and fish fans, or anyone else who’s interested, to participate in this event, says Richard Branson, founder of Virgin.com.

Fishackathon Netherlands 2016 is free to attend, all food and drinks will be supplied, and Fishackers are welcome to work late into the evenings and grab sleep at the venue.

After working hard on the weekend the groups will be able to present their work to an expert panel of judges who will then evaluate the teams’ presentations and groups that most effectively develop usable solutions to the problem of global overfishing and will be rewarded with prizes including €10,000 cash and €25,000 in development support. Besides the cash prizes, organisers will throw in some local ‘money can’t buy’ prizes.

“But the real prize is helping solve some of the serious problems we face in the decimation of marine life around the world!” said Jurjen Söhne, co-founder of organisers Stichting Hackitarians.

“This is one of the most important events in the history of our organisation as it touches upon the core principles that we are about; hacking for good!,” added Sohne. “We are really pushing for support from Dutch hackers and scientists to participate in this short term innovation event and give a good show from the Netherlands.”

Organisers are looking for (game/UI/UX) designers, (game/app/full-stack) developers, coders, computer/data scientists, subject matter experts (Oceanography, Fish Science) and others who believe they have the skills to tackle this challenge of worldwide overfishing. Potential sponsors are welcome to contact the Hackitarians if they are interested in getting involved.

Please apply for the Fishackathon here for your chance to make a difference and win!

The event is supported by, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy The Hague, European Space Agency (ESA), Liquid Robotics, Dutch Game Garden, Dutch Games Association, Wageningen University and organised by Dutch Hackathon Foundation, Stichting Hackitarians.

Attendees should bring bedding (pillow, blanket) if they want to spend the nights at the venue. Or can take ferry back to the mainland in the evenings and return in the mornings to stay on mainland hotel or return home if they so choose (not covered by organisers).

Fort Island IJmuiden is a semi-underground fortress that is situated at the estuary of the North Sea Canal. The Fort Island was created around 1885 as an important advanced defence post for the gateway to Amsterdam. Some of its most interesting features include an impressive dining hall, a dungeon and an armoury. In 2012, the attraction was awarded the Golden Green Key, becoming the first UNESCO World Heritage location to obtain a golden environmental label.

The island is well served by deploying two vessels,  the ‘Fortwachter’ and the ‘Koningin Emma’.. The crossing to the island is a flight of about 10 minutes.

PDF Map of route to events here.

Google maps link here.

You can apply to enter the Fishackathon here.

Promo video can be found here.

Artwork (logos and pics) can be found here.

About Stichting Hackitarians

We are The Hackitarians. We want to make the world a better place. By Hacking It. That is What We Do. We Design, Build and Run Hackathons