The challenge has been laid down. CODE is back!
Tony Clement, the President of the Treasury Board, has officially announced the CODE appathon is returning over the weekend of International Open Data Day from February 20–22.
CODE 2015 will build upon the fantastic success of last February’s inaugural event, which exceeded our expectations for participation, quality, and creativity. This appathon experience has real impact —for some of the finalists, CODE was a springboard into the Canadian entrepreneurial community.
Carlos Saavedra, a member of the winning team, Electric Sheep, recently returned to Ottawa to share his experience since the competition. Carlos has been building and expanding on the app they submitted, and gaining traction within the industry. It’s successes like this that show how CODE can be a catalyst for bigger things—all while driving Canadian innovation and growing our economy.
We want to take CODE 2015 a step further to solidify its place as a launch pad for open data innovation. Some of the new features for this year include:
- Expanding from one broad theme to three more specific sub-themes: The new sub-themes will be Quality of Life, Commerce, and Youth. We want participants to solve tangible problems or explore genuine business opportunities without being constrained.
- Connecting Canadian open data sources: There are a number of government open data portals in Canada (visit our Open Government Across Canada page). We encourage participants to mash up data from various levels of government to create new and innovative possibilities.
- More physical Hubs to connect participants face-to-face: The 2015 event will see official VIP Hubs in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal, where participants can work, meet, and mash up ideas. We feel this is incredibly important as the atmosphere during a hackathon is motivating and supportive for participants. Check out last year’s participant map on our CODE 2014 page to see the locations of participants from coast to coast.
- Working with the vibrant Canadian open data community: Last year, various independent organizations set up coding spaces for the weekend. This year, additional Partner Hubs will be promoted on the XMG CODE website.
At its core, CODE 2015 is still built on the same principles: revealing the potential of open data, building the Canadian entrepreneurial and high-tech community, and helping Canadian talent explore business ideas and opportunities that help others.
As the Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada, I’ve paid close attention to how innovation and technology are shaping our country. Open data and the digital economy, in particular, have amazing potential that all Canadians can tap into. I challenge you—developers, coders, artists, usability experts, social entrepreneurs, and other open data enthusiasts—to join us for CODE 2015. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Together, we are making Canada one of the world’s best open data incubators!
Corinne Charette
Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada
