Telenor Velocity collaborates with Google and UNDP to launch ‘Digital Hackfair’

ISLAMABAD: Telenor Pakistan’s Digital Accelerator Program, Telenor Velocity, in collaboration with Google Developers and UNDP Pakistan’s Youth Empowerment Programme, have launched a unique online hackathon in Pakistan to find the best developers and get them to build impactful solutions using Google’s open-source Flutter toolkit. Flutter aims to provide a framework and tooling for creating user experiences without compromise on any device or form factor.

This is a first-of-its-kind online hackathon that is open for developers including students, experts, professionals, and even individuals who take this as a hobby, to use the power of code and build solutions for a Digital Pakistan. The objective of this Hackfair is to give a platform to independent innovators to realize their ideas and develop skills through the learning journey. The hackathon is open for submissions in areas contributing towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that include FinTech, Connectivity, Agriculture, Gender, Education, Health, and Environment & Safety.

“As we step into a new decade, our interaction with technology is only going to get stronger on individual and business levels,” said Sardar Abubakr, Chief Digital & Strategy Officer at Telenor Pakistan. “Young and smart minds across the world are finding solutions to everyday challenges through technology, bringing convenience to life along with simplicity and efficiency to business processes. Events like Digital Hackfair brings together these innovators to develop better solutions as compared to working in silos. We are confident that through this collaboration and use of Google’s latest technology, we will be able to create state-of-the-art solutions for a Digital Pakistan.”

“As technology optimists, Google is always supportive of young developers with a passion for tackling the important challenges of our times. The hackathon’s focus areas are very near and dear to us, and we hope our collaboration with Telenor Velocity contributes strongly to the Digital Pakistan vision” said Sami Kizilbash, Developer Relations Program Manager at Google Asia Pacific.

Pakistan is a ‘Young’ country. 68 percent of the Pakistani population is under the age of 30, which is both a challenge and opportunity. UNDP’s Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP) seeks to harness the latent potential of Youth through its a multi-pronged strategy aimed at creating pathways for the economic empowerment and constructive engagement of young people in Pakistan using a mix of traditional and innovative measures. “We at UNDP aim to equip youth with the necessary and relevant skills to help increase their economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerabilities. This Digital Hackfair provides an excellent platform for skill development and an opportunity for youth to become changemakers” said Laura Sheridan, Programme Specialist UNDP Pakistan.

The hackathon submissions will begin on Jan 20, 2020 and will be open till Feb 20, 2020, on DevPost. After the submission deadline, the mentors will select the top 15 Flutter app developers and will invite for pitching competition at Telenor’s HQ 345 to meet industry experts, learn and network with mentors, and win prize money.

The submissions can be made online here: https://hackfair.devpost.com/

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