Exciting News from Women in Big Data (WiBD) Global Hackathon Program!

Women in Big Data (WiBD) Global Hackathon program collaborates with companies, academic institutions, and subject matter experts to solve data-related challenges through active participation in real world projects/hackathons.

In support of WiBD’s mission of building the workforce of tomorrow in the field of Big Data, AI, ML and Data Science, WiBD is committed to offer programs to its members to connect, cultivate, learn and grow the in-demand skills of data science and AI. Our objective is to unite data enthusiasts, fostering collaboration in tackling data-related challenges and generating valuable insights and solutions through data-driven approaches, all while equipping participants with tools to learn and enhance both technical and soft skills.

How do we achieve it? We are a dedicated team of volunteers, subject matter experts and supporters that consists of a Global Hackathon Sponsor (from WiBD Executive Board), WiBD Global Hackathon Director, WiBD Chapter Hackathon Leader, Company Specific Liaison/Core Team Support Member, and many WiBD leaders and members. The Hackathon programs run with Team leaders, Team Coordinators and Team members who participate in it and complete a specific data-based project under the guidance of a Team Leader.

We have successfully launched and run hackathons for the last three years where 16+ teams participated with 16 Team Leaders from the industry and academia who volunteered for WiBD, selected a competition to participate in (from open source/recognized platforms) and guided their respective teams to complete the challenge. We had over 52 participants from different career backgrounds and universities interested in Big Data and AI/ML who successfully completed their chosen hackathon project.

The testimonies from team leaders and participants over the years underscored WiBD’s objective of supporting technical skill development and enhancing leadership skills. Our participants went on to take on professional certifications, enrolling into degree programs/courses and were successful in securing a new job upon completion of WiBD hackathons. There was one theme in common that they all shared that the WiBD hackathon participation was where it all began for them, they got access to domain experts, networking and collaboration, for some it enhanced their skills and for some it gave them confidence to build their portfolio in the world of AI/ML.

Industry engagements provide a valuable opportunity to educate and train the audience while enabling companies to make real-time enhancements to their products, applications, platforms, and services. This year, in 2023, we launched our first industry sponsored hackathon with zbyte, a distributed application development platform for Web3 application development using Blockchain and Big Data concepts. Three WiBD chapters (Portland – NorthWest Chapter, Costa Rica, and India) from three continents are participating in it where all the participants are from regional universities. 15 teams have been formed with 9 universities across three WiBD chapters with 50+ participants working on four different challenges to build a dapp (distributed application) using zbyte’s platform

Academic institutes have the chance to engage in real-world, data-driven challenges, gaining hands-on experience and up-to-date knowledge while offering their student community opportunities to learn and refine in-demand technical skills.

WiBD and its chapters are looking for opportunities to offer data based programs to its members. There is a growing demand and interest from industry, startup space, academia, domain experts and members to collaborate, support and mentor tomorrow’s tech workforce. This is an exponential opportunity for engagement and collaboration with WiBD and sponsors like you. Your support and donations will make an immense impact on our hackathon participants, WiBD leaders and organizers to support and strengthen the program.