What happens when you get designers and developers, community-minded people and coders together for two days around a good cause? Cape Town Science Hack Day will unite participants for 48 hours to explore how science and new technology can empower communities.
Design for development
Local designers are excited to be involved in the initiative. “Science and technology are crucial to inform effective design. In return, designers convert science into everyday products and tools, some of which are then used by scientists for their research. This collaboration is natural for us,” says Michael Wolf of the Cape Town Design Network.
“Good design helps scientists visualise and understand results emerging from very large sets of data such as those expected from the MeerKAT telescope or the Square Kilometre Array, which we hope to host in Africa,” adds Carolina Ödman-Govender.
Open Knowledge meet-up
The Science Hack Day is preceded by an Open Knowledge meet-up hosted by Siyavula, an organisation creating open education resources for technology-powered learning in South African schools. “Openness is critical as it makes knowledge available and engages people in the creation of empowering resources,” says Mark Horner, Shuttleworth Foundation fellow and head of the Siyavula project.
As science, programming, education and design come together this week, the community of good hackers for development hopes to grow its ranks.
The fine print: Don’t forget your laptop
The Science Hack Day is supported by Popular Mechanics and takes place at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg on 28-29 January. The event is free but tickets must be booked in advance at scihackct.eventbrite.com. (Don’t forget your laptop.)
The Open Knowledge meet-up takes place at the Open Innovation Studio, 27 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town on 25 January. Tickets are R30 to be paid upon arrival, but must be booked at OpenKnowledgeFoundation/Cape-Town.
- Check out the Cape Town Science Hack Day website and the event poster to find out more details, and see what solutions are found after the event.
- See what happened in London and San Francisco on their Science Hack Day.
- Follow the progress of Science Hack Day on Twitter @Sciencehackday
Photos by Matt Biddulph at Science Hack Day San Francisco
