Hackathons are high-octane events that challenge teams to provide solutions using technology
Adi Bitzi
More than 200 hackers from 19 countries converged on Switzerland at the weekend to take part in the Swiss Blockchain Hackathon. Participants were challenged to come up with blockchain innovations in a variety of sectors as diverse as finance, logistics and agriculture.
This content was published on
2 minutes
When not covering fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, banks and trade, swissinfo.ch's business correspondent can be found playing cricket on various grounds in Switzerland - including the frozen lake of St Moritz.
Switzerland has hosted numerous hackathons over the past few years, designed to stimulate digital entrepreneurship using cutting-edge technologies. Several events have already spun off start-up companies while others have focused on the non-profit sector, tackling humanitarian projects.
Hackathons attract a wide variety of participants from computer programmers to the legal, business and NGO sectors. Teams compete in a dynamic atmosphere to come up with the best solutions to challenges in a short space of time.
The jury at the Swiss Block HackathonExternal link decided on six winners on Sunday. Teams Blockbyte and Axelra were judged overall co-winners of the hackathon for their solutions in the fields of Agriculture & Food and Mobility.
Blockbyte developed a blockchain solution for leasing land while judges were impressed with Axelra’s #velove app that rewards people who cycle to work with cryptocurrencies. The two winners split the CHF25,000 ($25,600) main prize.
‘Crypto Nation’
The other winners were a team from federal technology institute ETH Zurich who developed an e-government app for creating and signing petitions. Team Kuznyechik won the Finance category for their project for crowd valuation of assets with no financial history.
The Supply Chain category was won by Elastonians with a method of tracing goods, while team OSB were recognised for their package-delivery service Padely in the Intelligent Parcel challenge.
The Zurich-based hackathon was organised by the blockchain hub Trust Square with the Bitcoin Association Switzerland, Zug-based incubator CV Labs, the Crypto Valley Association, the Swiss Blockchain Federation and Swiss ICT.
The event was also supported by several Swiss universities and a range of companies including Amazon Web Services, logistics giant Panalpina, Swiss Post and the Zurich cantonal authorities.
The blockchain theme of the this hackathon reflects “Crypto Nation” Switzerland’s growing reputation as a global blockchain industry hub. While the much-hyped emerging technology has yet to prove its worth on main street, there are several live projects up and running.
More
More
Explained: The technology behind bitcoin and blockchain
This content was published on
To some, it’s a load of hot air. Others see a revolutionary technology that will transform the way we exchange nearly everything of value.
How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Western nations like Switzerland often have to deal with the process of recovering or returning looted artifacts which have been illegally imported. What’s the situation like in your country?
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
Sylvain Saudan, ‘skier of the impossible’, dies aged 87
This content was published on
The Swiss father of extreme skiing pioneered descents from the Alps to the Himalayas – and became the sport’s first star.
Hayek family buys additional Swatch shares for nearly CHF11 million
This content was published on
Following the acquisition of registered shares worth over CHF20.6 million on Monday, the Hayek family made another purchase on Tuesday.
Suicide capsule to be used in Switzerland this year, says euthanasia organisation
This content was published on
The organisation “The Last Resort” has confirmed that the suicide capsule Sarco is to be used in Switzerland. This should happen this year, it said.
Ukrainian children flown to Switzerland for cancer treatment
This content was published on
The Swiss air rescue service Rega flew two Ukrainian children with cancer to Switzerland from a hospital in Kyiv hit by Russian missiles.
Swiss Solidarity raises over CHF10 million for victims of extreme weather
This content was published on
The money raised will be used to help those affected by the recent storms and flooding in the cantons of Ticino, Graubünden, and Valais.
Swiss giant Roche given green light for lung cancer drug in Canada
This content was published on
According to a recent study, Roche’s Alecensaro reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 76% compared to chemotherapy alone.
Swiss luxury watch market hit hard by China-led slump
This content was published on
Sales of Swiss-made luxury watches are in sharp retreat as nervous consumers reconsider splashing out on expensive timepieces and demand slumps.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Hackathons: an antidote to Swiss risk aversion?
This content was published on
Hackathons are injecting a dose of garage start-up mentality in Switzerland - a missing ingredient in the country’s innovation scene.
Swiss manufacturers dive head first into blockchain
This content was published on
This week, BühlerExternal link unveiled a new method of destroying salmonella and e.coli in dry foods using low-energy electrons. Once the food has been treated, a data processing system can feed information onto a blockchain, which allows consumers, retailers and food producers to trace the safe products onto the supermarket shelf. The advantage of DLT…
Swiss-German venture aims to build blockchain trading marketplace
This content was published on
The alliance is between Deutsche Börse, Switzerland’s state-owned telecoms company Swisscom and budding Swiss crypto bank Sygnum. The Daura platform for listing tokenised company shares and financial services start-up Custodigit also play a part in the venture. The move signals an intention to create a new trading marketplace that ranges from creating digital versions of financial…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.