Technology is an enabler, a creator of innovative and scalable solutions that can alleviate social problems. This is one of the reasons why, here at Few&Far, we are passionate about technology.
We wanted to use our extensive network within the tech space and do something innovative with it. And what better way to do so, than bringing together the incredible individuals and companies that we come across, and create solutions for social good?
This is why we created The Hacker Games. The UK’s first, company vs. company Hackathon.
The Hacker Games is about putting some of the best minds and companies in a room to compete, all while addressing real world issues and making a difference through the power of digital technology.
In 2018, we partnered up with headline sponsor, Pusher and brought together 12 awesome product development teams and raised £11,000 for our chosen charity, Help for Heroes.
We asked teams to spend two days designing and building a product that would benefit the lives of some of the people affected by their time in the military and then present this product to our judges and the rest of the teams.
We had some amazing names from the world of product and development judging and they were looking for a solution that was impactful, of high technical quality and most importantly, a quality product pitch.
In a matter of just two days, all 12 teams produced and pitched some incredible products and it was no doubt a difficult decision for our judges.
So what came out of it?
Built an app to connect people in the Air Force with people who are offering support.
Created a social platform based on the idea, “better together”, where veterans can share their experiences with one another and the app could also take them through breathing excersises to reduce the symptoms of PTSD.
Asos were the winners of The Hacker Games 2017 and returned to defend their title and came up with “Invictus for the mind” helping heroes recognise transferable skills from the military service to a career in technology and how to uncover strengths that they can relate into tech related roles and hopefully smoothen the transition from service.
The Moonpig team, made up of Thomas Gardham-Pallister, Alex Kruzewski, Darren Beukes, Jasper Law, James Spencer took out The Hacker Games title by creating a VR experience drawing on Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing, which is a new treatment for PTSD.
It can be successfully used to treat single trauma events, and could be used by soldiers in the field as it doesn’t require internet access.
Incredible stuff and a well-deserved win!
A HUGE thank you to all the below, who helped makes The Hacker Games 2018 event a success:
Judges: Emma McGuigan, George Berkowski, Jay Allen, Paul Egan
Teams: Tictrac, carwow, Think Rise, ASOS.com, DAZN, WorldRemit, Resilient plc, Mercari, JUST EAT, JustGiving, Kingfisher plc. Moonpig
Speaker: Jay Allen
Charity: Help for Heroes
Sponsor: Pusher
Venue host: Barclays Rise London
If you’re interested in getting involved in the next event please get in touch!
Check out the first ever event held in 2017 (back when we were called Knowit)!
