The Sensis Application Programming Interface (SAPI) team has joined up with Pollenizer to host a Hackathon being held in Sydney on 24 and 31 March, in a search for new, emerging channels from which Yellow Pages and White Pages advertisers can reach new audiences.
While the first hackathon hosted by Sensis in Melbourne at the end of last year (SAPI Android V iOS Hackathon) was focussed on developers, this Sydney hackathon is an opportunity for entrepreneurs, code masters and design maestros to come together and create beautiful apps together.
Tim Corr, senior product manager at Sensis explained SAPI contains unique local search functionality and more than two million local business listings (which can include location, opening hours, websites, images, business descriptions and more), providing a rich offering for participants, allowing them to search and publish Yellow Pages and White Pages business and government directory listings.
“It’s a two-day hackathon, with the first taking place on Saturday 24 March where all entrants will come together to form teams, throw some ideas around and pull together a general plan of attack. Entrants will also have the benefit of input from the brains trust at Pollenizer, a company that has helped kick-start more than 25 online businesses.
“After the first day, teams are welcome to plug away during week if they wish and then on 31 March, they’ll need to transform those ideas into viable apps and finalise the development of a working prototype of their product.
“The aim is to create viable apps to be published in market, with an understanding of how they’re going to be monetised. There’s a $5k prize for the Best Product Execution and $5k for Best Commercial Concept up for grabs, too,” Mr Corr said.
The judging criteria will look at the depth of integration with SAPI, the business model, user experience and level of innovation.
Phil Morle, Co-Founder of Pollenizer said, “In addition to the monetary prizes on offer on the day, a team from Pollenizer Ventures – made up of some of Australia’s most experienced technology veterans – will also be on site looking for one amazing concept to invest in.
“This means there is also the opportunity for a $10k investment and enrolment in Pollenizer Ventures’ four month incubator program, which comes with tens of thousands of dollars worth of additional perks,” Mr Morle said.
Ben Hamey from Bonobo – the team that took out the $10k prize at the SAPI Android V iOS Hackathon last year, strongly encouraged people to get involved.
“We developed the Medic app at the SAPI Hackathon last year, for people who need non-urgent medical advice and calling 000 is not appropriate.
“The app uses SAPI to help the user determine the nature of the situation and find a nearby doctor, chemist or hospital that is open. In addition, it has functionality allowing the user to SMS or email a family member to let them know what’s happening and where they are.
“We think it’s a genuinely useful app and we’re very close to releasing it to market. We can definitely see potential for a series of apps that would leverage SAPI data in a similar way to solve everyday problems.
“I encourage all developers, entrepreneurs and designers to get involved – it’s a fantastic atmosphere and a great opportunity to get the creative juices flowing. The potential to win $20k + of prizes is a great incentive too!” Mr Hamey said.
