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Santa Clara, CA, May 19, 2015 - WITI (Women in Technology International), the leading global business organization for women in technology with more than 150,000 members worldwide, announced today that it is teaming up with IBM and Intel during the month of May for its first ever WITI Virtual Hackathon. The international "CODE-A-THON" offers "artists" ranging from developers, scientists, students, entrepreneurs, and educators the opportunity to build Internet of Things (IoT) and Wearables-based applications, software, hardware, and data visualization solutions.
WITI was founded to help women advance by providing access to - and support from - other professional women working in all sectors of technology. WITI started in 1989 as The International Network of Women in Technology and, in 2001, evolved into The WITI Professional Association. Today, WITI is the premiere global organization empowering women in business and technology to achieve unimagined possibilities. IBM has been acknowledged as a world leader in its commitment to women both in and out of the workforce. In 2014, IBM was named one of the "Best Companies for Women" by Forbes. This partnership further illustrates IBM's support for professional women in technology as we work together to bring forward the first ever WITI Virtual Hackathon.
Participation is welcome at any time as long as final solutions are submitted by May 27th. The global winner will be announced at WITI's Annual Women in Technology Summit which will be held in San Jose from May 31-June 2, 2015, at the Doubletree by Hilton San Jose. To participate in the Hackathon, register with WITI at www.iothackathons .
Registrations are also be eligible for a 30-day free trial of Bluemix, IBM's platform-as-a-service.
Bluemix runs on SoftLayer cloud infrastructure and combines the strength of IBM's middleware software with other open services and tools from IBM partners and its developer ecosystem - such as those found in the recently unveiled IoT zone - to offer more than 100 services for agile and flexible app development in the cloud.
"Research shows gender diversity to be particularly valuable where innovation is key - however, women are earnings an increasingly smaller percentage of computer science degrees today than they were 30 years ago," said Sandy Carter, IBM General Manager, Cloud Ecosystem and Developers. "Through this code-a-thon, we are helping train the next generation of women leaders in two of the most exciting areas of technology to help foster innovation and drive growth."
The WITI Hackathon is open to anyone since the challenge is geared for individuals with a broad range of skills. There is no limit to the amount of team members. However, WITI recommends that the ideal team size should be 1-4 participants encouraging participants to virtually meet new people and collaborate with those who may have different skills sets. Individuals can easily join a team by connecting through WITI'S Facebook community page.
As part of the challenge, participants will be asked to create an IoT or wearables app that will help solve everyday problems in work, family, home, or travel. When submitting their application for prize consideration, the contestants will submit a three minute YouTube video highlighting the importance and value of their application. All solutions will be submitted under an open source license that permits the free and open dissemination of the work.
IBM will award one winner from each of the challenge categories with the most innovative use of IBM Bluemix, while student winners will receive up to one year of free access to Bluemix and up to 60 hours of technical support and assistance over six months by a senior IBM Bluemix developer. Entrepreneur and start-up winners will get access to the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program for Cloud Start-ups and will be eligible for up to $120,000 of free IBM Cloud credit.
WITI and IBM have partnered up with Intel to offer additional resources to ensure you create the most innovative, show stopping app possible. Intel is providing Edison boards offering a fully open source hardware and software development environment for the contestants to use for the hackathon. IBM and Intel have a wealth of technical resources that showcase Bluemix services integrated onto Intel's hardware including virtual education, videos, tutorials, etc. for you to leverage that can be found here: https://ibm.biz/witihackathon
WITI, founded in 1989 by Carolyn Leighton, is the world's leading trade association for professional, tech-savvy women committed to using technology, resources and connections to advance women worldwide. With a global network of exceptionally successful women leaders, WITI has established powerful strategic alliances and programs to provide resources, and opportunities within a supportive environment of women committed to helping each other succeed. WITI's mission is to empower women worldwide to achieve unimagined possibilities and transformations through technology, leadership and economic prosperity. For more information please visit: http://witi.com
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