Technology Association of Oregon Sprint4Oregon hackathon winners create innovative software solutions in support of World Athletics Championships Oregon22

Winning solutions will be further scoped for use at the 2022 Eugene Riverfront Festival.

‍Eugene, Ore.  (October 13, 2021) —The Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) recently wrapped up its sixth annual hackathon, Sprint4Oregon, sponsored by the University of Oregon, Google, Lane Workforce Partnership, Code Ninjas Eugene, and held in partnership with the City of Eugene and Travel Lane County. The three-day virtual event focused on the upcoming World Athletics Championships Oregon22, coming to Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022. Throughout the weekend, teams worked on three challenges designed to improve the visitor experience at the Eugene Riverfront Festival, which will welcome residents, visitors, and athletes during WCH Oregon22. The first challenge tasked hackers with identifying unique ways to create software to enhance visitor experiences and drive tourists to destinations in Eugene. The second challenge, event sustainability, required hackers to develop creative ways to make the event more environmentally friendly and highlight what can and cannot be recycled at the Festival. The final challenge explored inventive ways to tell athletes’ cultural stories.

Since WCH Oregon22 will host 214 teams in competition, representing almost every country globally, hackers were asked to document their multicultural stories creatively.Each tech solution was judged on eight criteria, including ROI, usability, commercial viability, and equity outcomes for the end-user.“It is powerful to see the creative solutions a group of like-minded people can bring to life in such a short amount of time,” said Sally Belly, TAO VP and Executive Director of Southern Willamette Valley. “For folks to go from an initial meeting to requirements gathering to working prototypes in such a short amount of time, and virtually, highlights the civic tech talent we have in the region.”Winning teams produced solutions to help the Oregon22 Riverfront festival become tech-enabled and more engaging for fans and visitors.Athlete + Cultural Storytelling: Track Town Tupple team produced a web app that identifies Eugene landmarks and links them to World Championships athlete stories and accomplishments.

Visitor + Fan Experience: The Amazonians team produced a web app where you can tour around Eugene on different “tracks” for Food, Recreation, and Culture and earn track miles, akin to a Pokemon Go experience. Waste + Recycling: Solo challenger Asa LeHolland developed an interactive waste and recycling game to determine whether an item is destined for the trash, recycling, or compost at the Riverfront Festival. The winning team for each of the three challenges earned $2,000. The winning and runners-up solutions may be further developed for the community festival experience or potentially within the City of Eugene or the local school districts. A team of mentors and judges with wide-ranging experience supported hackathon participants. Mentors and judges came from the local economic development team, Onward Eugene, The City of Eugene, Travel Lane County, a local expert developer from Mozilla, and a remote software development team based in Princeton, New Jersey, interested in opening a new office based out of Oregon. The event was indeed a coast-to-coast collaboration. ‍

About Technology Association of Oregon: The Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) is a local nonprofit working to build opportunities, better our economy, and unify a voice for innovation in Oregon and beyond.  A recognized leader in shaping and growing technology and business communities, TAO empowers businesses and entrepreneurs through networks, events, advocacy, resources, and more.  With over 500 member companies, TAO’s network brings together some of the largest companies in the world, small startups, and tech-enabled companies that are using technology to drive growth and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.techoregon.org.