Turku Future Hackathon, organised in the facilities of SparkUp in Kupittaa last weekend, brought together 16 teams to develop new innovations for the Campus and Science Park area in Turku. The entries that shared the victory of the tight race and the main prize of 8000 euros were ”Go Questing” and”TwinCities”.

Development continues until December

After the competition the winners have an opportunity to discuss further development of the entry with competition organisers and experts until 7 December 2017 when they are also able to present their solution at the opening of the Visitor and Innovation Centre of Turku.

–The teams that participated in hackathon are also free to use the Elisa IoT platform free of charge until December when they can present their elaborated ideas to Elisa and receive feedback for the future, says Kimmo Pentikäinen, Development Manager at Elisa.

The City of Turku organised an urban development hackathon event between 29 September and 1 October with Elisa Oyj, Turku Science Park Ltd and Turku Technology Properties Ltd. An international group of nearly 50 participants representing educational establishments in the area, businesses and experts alike joined the competition.

The jury was pleased

The objective of the competition was to advance services that increase the liveliness and attractiveness of the Campus and Science Park area, interesting meeting places and smart mobility.

–The number of teams exceeded the expectations of all organisers. During the weekend, the teams really got the gist of it even though the starting point was challenging and the task had been intentionally defined in a way that allows room for creativity. It was great to see that all competition entries and pitches had positive aspects. We could easily find the two best teams but placing one over another was impossible, Therefore, both teams received a prize of 4000 euros, says Marko Puhtila from Turku Science Park Ltd, Chair of the contest jury.

Winners of the competition

Go Questing

See also Video interview: Go Questing

The team was formed by information and communication technology students at Turku University of Applied Sciences Katriina Jokinen, Matti Krusviita and Sade Sirén. The objective is to gamify social networking, particularly among students in the campus area. The application facilitates networking and finding new business contacts.

Comments given by the jury: "Very good presentation. The idea combines existing interfaces, a 3D model of the area and geographic information. The application concept combines already existing and functioning ideas into an entity for creating a better living environment and promoting sense of community in the area."

TwinCities

 

See also Video interview: TwoCities

The team was formed on the spot in hackathon by Lari Jaakkola, Veikko Eeva, Joonas Uotinen, Anton Nordqvist and Ha Vu. The team brought together both students and entrepreneurs in the area. The objective of the entry is to test sustainable development solutions by using a virtual parallel reality Turku platform and to bring forward stories and ideas of city residents. The concept combines a resident-oriented approach with the city’s decision-making and increases crowdfunding possibilities for urban development

Comments given by the jury: "A concept of tomorrow, but it may already be the time to realise this on the front line. Combining crowdsourcing and crowdfunding possibilities increases potential for interesting business. Would work as a platform for developing a smart city."

Smart urban development

During the hackathon weekend, a group of experts from e.g. the digital development of Elisa sparred the contestants.

–We at Elisa want to play a strong role in the development of the Finnish information society. The hackathon event in Turku was an excellent example of how new innovations can help advance smart urban development in the spearhead project of the Campus and Science Park area in Turku, says Harri Salo, Western Finland Area Director at Elisa.

The competition also reached the targets set by the City of Turku Campus and Science Park area spearhead project.

––Many ideas for advancing the liveliness and functionality of the area were created during the weekend. A particular strength of the winning entries was a comprehensive approach that took into consideration the viewpoints of the physical, functional and social environment. We were also pleased by the excellent co-operation in the competition between different parties, says Project Manager of the spearhead project Riitta Birkstedt, who took part in the evaluation of competition entries.

More about the competiton: