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Winners of Blockworks Hackfest announced

Published: Thu 11 Oct 2018 11:32 AM
11th October 2018
Two winning teams have been announced after the Blockworks Hackfest sponsored by venture studio Centrality after a weekend of creativity and innovation made choosing a single winner impossible.
Over 80 people attended the free event on 6th/7th October, held at Auckland University of Technology and hosted by Centrality with support from web development school Enspiral Dev Academy and business accelerator Lightning Lab. More than 13 different ideas were presented across the weekend by developers and businesses passionate about the practical application of blockchain.
The two winners of the Open Hack category were CarbonClick and Āhau. Carbon offset marketplace CarbonClick enables consumers to purchase carbon credits and track their impact down to the tree being planted, which wouldn’t be possible without the transparency provided by blockchain. Māori blockchain project Āhau empowers individuals with a self-sovereign digital identity solution to track their genealogy, iwi and whakapapa. The blockchain-enabled identity solution has the potential to be utilised by indigenous communities around the world.
Talks are underway with both projects to enter the Centrality Accelerator programme, powered by Lightning Lab. The package, which includes a rigorous programme of support and resources, will be worth over $100,000 for both winners.
General Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Centrality, Andy Higgs, says the hackfest showed how blockchain opens up people’s imagination about what solutions are possible.
“The weekend produced a vast array of ideas that harness the power of blockchain technology and showed how the concept of bringing minds together in a hackfest can get the most out of emerging tech like decentralised ledgers.
“Kiwis are world famous innovators and this was very evident at the hackfest - ideas flew, solutions were created and we had a lot of fun. Anyone who took part, whether they won or not, would have learned a lot, as did we,” he says.
The two winners will split the overall prize that provides a physical space within the Centrality Accelerator where developers, businesses and entrepreneurs work in close collaboration with the on-site Centrality team of blockchain experts.
An important part of this is entering an intensive programme and receiving support to scale their idea within a blockchain ecosystem to make it commercially successful.
“This is a prize beyond just monetary value and we’re delighted we have two winners,” adds Andy Higgs. “Our aim is to provide the support and the encouragement to help bright minds produce successful blockchain applications - and we’ve achieved this from the hackfest.”
The proposal Dread Snarfle also won $2,000 of Centrality (CENNZ) tokens as part of the “take the challenge” stream where a blockchain task was set to create a blockchain game that focused on non-fungible assets.
Founder of Blockworks, Justin Flitter, says the Hackfest was an ideal way to start what is being billed as New Zealand’s premier blockchain event.
“Our aim is to show people the potential of blockchain technology to transform the way we do business, govern and how we live. On any scale the tech can provide real solutions that will bring prosperity to Kiwis and New Zealand by giving people control of information and data.
“While there are many who still sit in the naysayer camp about blockchain, the resounding success of the hackfest blew us away because it showed there is a growing community that believes in its potential,” he says.
Blockworks continues on Thursday 11th October with a full-day of workshops followed on the 12th with the conference presenting how blockchain is transforming supply chain, finance, transport and services.
Six international experts are speaking alongside Kiwi innovators including Aaron McDonald, CEO of Centrality, who will talk about New Zealand’s economic potential as we take back ownership and control of information.
Three hundred people have registered for the events over the two days at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in Wynyard Quarter, Auckland.
Tickets for Blockworks are available at blockworks.co.nz
ENDS

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