Hackathon at 30,000 feet

by Startacus Admin

It’s a week for planes. Our dear friends at The Employable this week wrote about how to become a pilot, the new World War Z trailer has something to do with a plane (albeit, crashing) and now; British Airways are hosting a ‘Hackathon’ Tech Challenge at 30,000 feet.

The trip will take participants from San Francisco to London as part of British Airways ‘unGrounded’ campaign, and will see more than 100 of Silicon Valley’s brightest academics, tech-heads, entrepreneurs and innovators come on board. They’ll be working to come up with tangible solutions to global problems over the course of the 11 hour flight. The entire operation is intended as an allegory for the potential that technology has; bringing people from all over the world together, and then through their ideas – moving things forward.

Specifically, the participants (who could also simply be referred to in this case as ‘passengers’) will aim to tackle the problem of talent crunch; essentially matching talented individuals with genuine opportunities. Not since ‘Snakes on a Plane’ will so many people have worked together to overcome a major social problem at this altitude.

The participants though, are, thankfully, less inclined to bite each other. They will include Wikipedia boss Jimmy Wells, Sir Bob Geldof, Rosario Dawson and others selected for their ‘energy, ideas and experience.’

The idea is the brainchild of the DNA – Decide Now Act – summit, which creates a network of innovators with the intent of resolving global issues. When the plane lands, the participants will be asked to present their work and findings in the House of Lords to the Summit, as well as to the Secretary General of the ITU – the UN agency responsible for information and communication technologies.
DNA’s website on the event highlights the potential gains from the venture which BA believes illustrates their commitment to forward thinking and social entrepreneurial spirit. One just hopes there isn’t too much turbulence.

Written by Ethan Loughrey

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Published on: 3rd April 2013