Telenor Hackathon 2018’ pumps fresh blood into digital industry
ISLAMABAD – May 14, 2018: Telenor Pakistan, the country’s foremost telecom and digital services provider, hosted ‘Telenor Hackathon 2018’ at its campus ‘345’ in Islamabad. The 4 day event brought together tech loving university students, fresh graduates, entry level professionals, Telenor Pakistan employees and startups from across Pakistan to showcase their innovative ideas for solving problems prevalent in our society.
The event kick-started with an opening ceremony which was attended by Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan, Telenor’s management and media personnel, followed by a campus tour for the participants and an orientation session on different APIs which were at their disposal during the hackathon. Over the next 36 hours, participants engaged in intensive sessions of brainstorming and coding to bring their out-of-box ideas to life.
Before setting off with product development, the participants showcased their ideas before a panel of judges consisting of Telenor’s management and then worked collaboratively under expert in-house mentorship to develop products and solutions that either address a problem or usher in further ease & enablement to the society. The teams presented their finished solutions before the panel on the final day. VIXUM was declared the winner of Telenor Hackathon 2018 and was awarded a prize worth PKR 100,000 for their idea “The Virtual Eye”, an application which would be built in a pair of glasses that assists visually challenged people in overcoming visual limitation and helps them in their daily lives. Team Gang of Four won 2nd prize worth PKR 70,000 for their idea of testing the quality of water using a pocket-sized device, and Neuro Empathy won 3rd prize worth PKR 50,000 for their idea of a physiotherapy device for stroke patients which generates movement in the paralyzed area by stimulating muscles and nerves.
The initiative is an extension of Telenor Pakistan’s commitment to empowering societies, primarily the youth that dominates the country’s population. The Hackathon provided participants with the opportunity to get a flavor of the latest technology and firsthand experience of the telecom and digital industry.
“Telenor Hackathon 2018 gave students and professionals the opportunity to experience today’s fast moving technology and industry trends under expert mentorship,“ said Khurrum Ashfaque, Chief Technology Officer at Telenor Pakistan, while speaking at the event. “We hope that this initiative will help them streamline their learning and career development in line with the evolving industry requirements thereby ironing out their transition from an academic setting to the industry. Through this and a number of similar programs, Telenor Pakistan is investing in the future of the country to drive growth and development.”
Telenor Pakistan is one of the major proponents of digital technology in the country and has been a torchbearer for the digital revolution in today’s industry. The company leverages digital technology to remove bottlenecks in socioeconomic development and to supplement growth and progress.
