Cambridge’s brainpower is being challenged to take part in a 24hr Hackathon to find ways of using technology to tackle the pressures facing the city as it grows.

Plans for over 33,000 houses to be built over the next 15 years will see an additional 50,000 people move into Cambridge and the surrounding area presenting an unprecedented challenge for the city.

Teams of hackers will work through the night using their tech skills and the city’s data to develop new ways to address the challenges to mobility, environment, heath and social care.  The next morning they’ll pitch their ideas to a panel of experts who will award prizes for the best solutions.

The hackathon is part of #hackCambridge – a day of talks, workshops and activities being held at The Junction, Cambridge from 12 noon on Saturday 31 October to explore how technology and creative thinking can help to improve city life.

And it’s not just for techies – local residents can get involved through a workshop for non-techies, meet their mobile phone Data Shadow developed by multi-media artist Mark Farid, see Cambridge built in Minecraft and short films about the city’s inventors.

The challenges that Cambridge faces, its ‘Smart City’ ambitions, citizen empowerment and the role of data will be explored in talks by Councillor Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council, Usman Haque, founding partner of Umbrellium and Internet of Things data platform Pachube.com, and multimedia artist Mark Farid, creator of Data Shadow.

Sponsored by Redgate Software and Arcus Global, #hackCambridge is a collaboration between the Smart Cambridgeshire programme, Collusion, Thingful and Cambridgeshire Insight.

Councillor Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council and Chairman of the Greater Cambridge City Deal Executive Board, said: “Cambridge has an ambition to become a ‘Smart City’ using technology to find new ways address our city’s challenges, particularly transport, so we can improve the quality of life for residents.

“#hackCambridge is a great opportunity for our tech’ community and local people to get involved in helping us to find solutions to these challenges. We want to hear from the dozens of cambridge ICT companies who could help cambridge go smarter, and get in early on big business opportunities in other cities too.”

#hackCambridge events are all free, but places need to be booked for the 24hr City Challenge Hackathon and ‘Towards a Smart City?’ talks.  Find out more and book now at www.junction.co.uk/hackcambridge or call 01223 511511.