HubHacks 2 is a data visualization challenge managed by the City of Boston. We're asking developers, designers, and data scientists to find new insights in urban data and show them in inviting, understandable, and thought-provoking ways. 

Building on our successful open data portal, the City will provide brand new data sets that touch on important parts of life and business in Boston. HubHackers will be asked to:

  • Connect City data and other public data sets to create more contextualized understanding of our progress towards the goal of a thriving, healthy and innovative city.
  • Craft innovative visualizations that highlight trends, opportunities, and decision points, providing deeper insight for the City and better transparency to citizens.
  • Find valuable insights that will help business owners, residents and students who call Boston home.
  • Create visualizations that support a conversation between City government and the community around important topics.

We're looking to present interesting Boston data in unique places in the City, such as digital displays that are around Seaport and Fenway Park, demonstrations at public events and built into the Mayor's dashboard.

The deadline for submissions is March 30th. Finalists will be notified later that week along with an invitation to present at our closing session at noon on April 4th at Faneuil Hall.

To fuel this competition, we will be making available a range of new and exciting data sets. 

Thanks to our many sponsors for their support, including:

Thanks to our data partners for their contributions::

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive an award, teams must (1) register through http://hubhacks2.challengepost.com, (2) someone on the team must attend the kick-off meeting on March 14, 2015 at District Hall starting at 10:00am and (3) finalists must present their solution to the judges on Saturday, April 4, 2014 at Faneuil Hall. Teams are limited to five (5) people maximum.

Requirements

Submissions must be made by March 30, 2015 at 5 p.m. through the Challenge Post website  at http://hubhacks2.challengepost.com, filling in all fields. Submissions must include a data visualization that provides a unique use of more than one data set - public or provided by the city. All submissions should show a working example or complete visualization. Any submission that includes a coded, working application must publically post all sources on GitHub.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$3,195 in prizes

Chrome Books

Up to 5 Chrome Books will be awarded to one team (one per team member).

GoPro Cameras

Up to 5 GoPro Cameras will be awarded to one team (one per team member).

Tessel Hackathon Pack

One Tessel Hackathon Pack will be awarded to a team. https://shop.tessel.io/Packs/Hackathon%20Pack

HP Stream 8 Signature Tablet Edition

Up to 5 HP Stream 8 Signature Tablets will be awarded to one team (one per team member) http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.308781600

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

How to enter

Register at http://hubhacks2.challengepost.com and attend the kick-off on March 14 to learn about the challenge, the data and build a team to start hacking!

Judges

Julie Barros

Julie Barros
Chief of Arts and Culture, City of Boston

Beth Altringer

Beth Altringer
Lecturer on Innovation and Design, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)

Dr. Ryan C.C. Chin

Dr. Ryan C.C. Chin
Director of the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab

Ben Fry

Ben Fry
Founder and principal of Fathom Information Design

Judging Criteria

  • HOW WILL MY WORK BE JUDGED?
    Teams will present their solutions to the panel of judges, to be judged on the following criteria: Winning teams will...
  • Visualize Effectively
    Connect city data and other public data sets to create more contextualized understanding of our progress towards the goal of a thriving, healthy and innovative city.
  • Use Data Creatively
    We're looking for teams to combine data sets in creative ways - maybe some that no one ever thought to put together before!
  • Engage Constituents
    Find valuable insights that will help business owners, residents and students who call Boston home.
  • Provide insights into operations
    Craft innovative visualizations that highlight trends, opportunities, and decision points, providing deeper insight for the City and better transparency to citizens.
  • Provoke Conversations
    Provide visualization that supports conversations between City government and the community around important topics on an on-going basis.
  • Create easy to use/understand products
    Be easy to use for users with a general understanding of visualizations and reviewing data.

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