UTM teams to compete in Open Data Day 'idea jam'
Mississauga will mark Open Data Day on Saturday, March 5 with a day-long ‘open data idea jam’ co-hosted by the City of Mississauga, Sheridan College and U of T Mississauga’s I-CUBE business accelerator at the Institute for Management & Innovation (IMI).
At Code And The City, developers, designers, mappers and information analysts will gather to share, discuss, network and collaborate on ideas through the use of open data. Teams from Institute of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology, the Department of Math and Computational Sciences and the Digital Enterprise Management program at UTM will be among the 75 entrants in the competition, all competing to win $6,000 in cash and prizes.
The developers will have just 12 hours to create a digital tool that makes use of open data available on the City of Mississauga website. The city publishes open data sets on a variety of city services, including recreation, culture, urban planning and business development. Participants will create a digital tool, such as an app, software or website, that makes use of that data in a way that is useful to the general public. Finalists will be decided after a round of speed pitches to judges.
While the teams work, spectators will attend discussion sessions led by industry experts in open data.
“We are committed to supporting entrepreneurial projects in Mississauga,” says Donna Heslin, IMI’s assistant director of external relations. “This competition is one way we help UTM students engage with and access great entrepreneurial opportunities.” In 2015, I-CUBE teams took two of the top three spots in a tri-campus hackathon at U of T.
The event will bring greater awareness of Mississauga’s open data sets, and help to educate the community on how the city’s information and services can be accessed through the use of technology.
“We are inviting the best and the brightest – students and seasoned professionals – to participate in our inaugural Code and the City Mississauga event,” said Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Participants will help ignite new applications that have the potential to deliver smarter, effective and more efficient community services.”