The World Athletics Championships Oregon22 are coming to Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022, the first time the United States has ever hosted it. One of the largest athletics events in the world, the 10-day spectacle brings athletes from across the globe for track and field competition at the University of Oregon.
At the same time, Eugene’s Riverfront Festival (happening at the Downtown Riverfront Park) will welcome residents, visitors and athletes. The festival will integrate with community organizations and businesses to connect the competition site to the Riverfront, Downtown Eugene, and beyond.
As one can imagine, the logistics of an event of this size can be quite challenging. Fortunately, an unlikely group is coming to the rescue — hackers.
During Sprint4Oregon, the Technology Association of Oregon’s sixth annual hackathon on Oct. 7, technologists will work together to solve software challenges tied to this huge upcoming event. This year’s hackathon, sponsored by University of Oregon, Google, Lane Workforce Partnership, and Code Ninjas Eugene, challenges participants to create innovative solutions to elevate Eugene’s Riverfront Festival.
“The World Athletics Championships Oregon22 are a big deal internationally, and Eugene’s primary goal as host city is to welcome and inspire the world. We wanted to focus this year's hackathon on solving some of the complexities around the operations of the Riverfront Festival since the event will be free for anyone to attend,” said Sally Bell, VP & Executive Director of TAO, Southern Willamette Valley. “The hackathon is fully virtual and will be focused on solving three different challenges. The teams with the most innovative, useful solutions will win and may have the opportunity to have their ideas implemented at the Riverfront Festival.”
The first challenge focuses on fan experiences. Hackers will be tasked with identifying ways to create software that can enhance visitor experiences and drive tourists to destinations in Eugene.
The second challenge, event sustainability, requires hackers to develop creative ways to make the event more environmentally friendly and highlight what can and cannot be recycled at the Festival.
The final challenge explores inventive ways to tell athletes’ cultural stories. Since WCH Oregon22 will host 214 teams in competition, representing almost every country in the world, hackers will be asked to document their multicultural stories creatively.
“We encourage hackers to be as creative as they want,” said Bell. “All ideas are welcome, whether it's a widget, landing page, website, QR code, or even a video game.”
The winning teams for each of the three challenges will earn $2,000. Additionally, the winning solutions may be further developed and implemented at next year’s Eugene Riverfront Festival.
The free and fully virtual Sprint4Oregon hackathon will be accepting registrants through Oct. 6.
“We couldn’t be more excited to support such a monumental event in Oregon’s history,” said Bell. “This civic hacking represents an awesome opportunity for participants to elevate and positively support a significant moment. We encourage everyone from across the state to put together a team and get involved.”
This is part of a regular guest column written by the Technology Association of Oregon. If you are interested in submitting a guest post please email Malia Spencer at mspencer@bizjournals.com.
