MEDIA RELEASE
Harnessing emotion to drive innovation – Datacom’s annual hackathon focuses on technology with heart
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 23 August 2018: Datacom’s annual hackathon – Datacomp – will this year see participants humanise
technology through the theme of “EmotionalX”. As part of the weekend event on 24-26 August, hundreds of participants
from across Australasia will converge on Datacom’s Auckland office to design a piece of technology that forges genuine
human connections between people and business.
The hackathon has grown to become one of the largest in New Zealand and participants include Datacom staff, customers,
volunteers and design students. Ideas will be developed into prototypes over a fast and frenetic 48 hours and presented
in a Dragon’s Den-style judging event at the end of the weekend.
A number of ideas have already been submitted including a platform to explore the 32,000 women who signed the Women’s
Suffrage Petition 125 years ago; car-shopping advice without the hard-sell angst; and how to make consultation on
environmental matters a more engaging and positive experience for Kiwis.
“No matter how high-tech we get, we’re all still human beings, and the way we feel shapes our actions, colours our
thinking and plays a vital role in how we approach our everyday lives. This year’s Datacomp is all about finding
real-life solutions to the everyday problems our customers and society face. Connecting people and technology to solve
challenges and create opportunities is fundamental to what we do at Datacom,” says Greg Davidson, Group CEO.
“Emotionally connected customers result in longer lasting and more valuable business engagements, so it‘s little wonder
that companies are choosing to actively bring emotions and feelings into their workplace. Our goal with Datacomp has
always been to encourage our people to think differently and find ways to make everyone’s lives better, not just solve a
technical problem.”
Successful designs from previous years include a payroll app – Charitable - that makes it easy for employees to donate
to a chosen charity every payday, and a smart tool to reduce workplace accidents in real-time by monitoring and flagging
unsafe worker behaviour.
Datacomp is also valuable as a recruitment tool for Datacom, which provides training for its staff to help them present
and develop their ideas each year.
“The beauty of Datacomp is that it brings so many diverse people and ideas together in the one place, to create
something that is both innovative and inspirational,” Davidson says.
“As this year’s theme shows, technology is not just a one-dimensional tool, and we’re not just looking for programmers
or technical experts, but people who genuinely want to help make our world better. Innovative thinking and a deep
understanding of what drives people are what give technology solutions substance.”
“We’re also delighted to again welcome our partners Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud to Datacomp,”
Davidson says. “Their expert support and advice throughout the weekend is invaluable to the participants.”
-ENDS-