UNC Charlotte virtual hackathon to promote economic mobility

Technology can be a force to improve various aspects of a community, and UNC Charlotte is issuing a public challenge for developers to create applications or games to advance a social good.

The UNC Charlotte Data Science Initiative, through its Partnership for Social Good, is sponsoring a virtual hackathon to address economic mobility in the Queen City. Participants will compete for $10,000 in prizes, and their challenge is to create a mobile platform-based application or game that addresses this problem:

“In a just society, a child born into a low-income family will have an equally likely chance of economically advancing as any other child in that community. According to a 2014 study by the Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard, Charlotte was ranked last in a list of 50 metropolitan areas with respect to upward economic mobility.”

Hackathon organizers have stated that submissions should “give a voice, or provide a service, to the underprivileged people of Charlotte. Entries should have the potential to qualitatively change the lives of their users for the better. Fully developed apps and games are encouraged, although prototypes will be accepted.”

Mirsad Hadzikadic, director of the Complex Systems Institute and executive director of the Data Science Initiative, said, “The mission of the Partnership for Social Good is to provide a platform for corporations, government and universities to jointly address issues related to the social good of the community, such as economic mobility. Our vision is that the partnership will be a catalyst for positive, long-lasting change in the society, ultimately making it more just and fair.”

The virtual hackathon “Partnership for Social Good – Social Mobility” is open to the public, and organizers stated they hope a diverse set of competitors will join and produce creative and innovative applications that will make a lasting difference. The submission deadline is 11 p.m., Monday, Aug. 1; winners will be announced at the Summit for Social Change, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 17-18.

More information, including how to enter this challenge, is on the Web.