🏢 Challenge #1: Supporting sustainable infrastructure development

A country’s infrastructure is critical to guarantee access to essential services. It drives economic and social growth, creating more job opportunities and a better quality of life. Energy, communication and transportation are examples of basic infrastructure that are often taken for granted but that many people worldwide still lack. 

Space technologies can help us further explore, plan and maintain infrastructure developments, such as solar and wind power generation. Spacebased timing and communication technologies can support improved systems coordination and control, and in the case of energy, enable more efficient and reliable transmission and distribution of electricity. 

You can dive into the areas of:  

• Spatial planning & site selection for infrastructure development 
• Renewable energy production forecasting 
• Future-proofing transportation & mobility infrastructure
• Critical infrastructure monitoring and planning for remote communities
• Assess damages to infrastructure caused by natural disasters or conflict

💧 Challenge #2: Strengthening food security & access to clean water 

Access to food and water is a basic human right that remains a significant challenge for many populations around the world. Climate change, unsustainable land-use practices, and global supply chain disruptions further aggravate these challenges. Anticipating humanitarian crises and managing often scarce resources are critical to strengthening overall access to food and water. 

Space technologies can contribute to improving food security by optimising land use, supporting accurate yield forecasting, and increasing supply chain resilience. They can improve access to clean water by identifying groundwater sites, understanding global water cycles, and monitoring and mitigating the effects of floods and droughts. Overall, space technologies have the power to enable humanitarian actors to better anticipate and prepare for future crises. 

Ideas can be focused on: 

• Anticipatory action for extreme weather events, including impact-based assessments to the food value chain, water supplies, infrastructure and communities
• Agricultural yield forecasts and optimisation
• Logistics & resource allocation for emergency humanitarian assistance
• Land cover & land use monitoring
• Access and management of groundwater
• Monitor water quality parameters like algal bloom, cyanobacteria, suspended matter

🌎 Challenge #3: Understanding and forecasting forced migration 

Natural and man-made crises threaten the livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people worldwide every day. Rising sea levels erode shorelines, contributing to coastal flooding and increasing groundwater salinity, while changes in rainfall patterns affect water supplies and the availability of arable land in rural communities. War and conflict cause massive disruption to food and water supplies, personal security and property ownership. As a result, residents in these vulnerable areas are often forced to migrate in search of work or to ensure their safety. 

Space technologies can help us understand the impact of climate change on coastal and rural regions of less developed countries with insights on population movement and land use/land change. They can also support the design and delivery of humanitarian assistance to people in need. 

Think about solutions related to: 

• Digital tools and big data in migratory processes and population movements 
• Planning, decision-making and resource allocation due to natural and man-made disasters 
• Transportation and logistics to support displaced communities 
• Impact of desertification in rural communities 
• Monitoring coastal communities and erosion

Registration, idea submission and team formation for the 6th CASSINI hackathon takes place on the TAIKAI platform here: https://taikai.network/cassinihackathons/hackathons/intdev-humaid

The platform isn’t difficult to use but isn’t very intuitive and there are a few details to keep in mind, so we’ve put together instructions for you to make the process easier. If you have any questions, please contact us via cassini@garage48.org.

• Registering for the hackathon
• Submitting an idea and inviting members to join
• Finding a team to join 

Registering for the hackathon

Step 1: Create an account to join the hackathon

When you head to the registration page, you’ll be asked to log in or create an account to be able to join the hackathon. You can do so using your email or by connecting a Github, Gmail, Microsoft or LinkedIn account.

After logging in, the orange button will change to “join the hackathon” and you’ll be able to register.

Step 2: Register for the hackathon

The registration form is pretty straightforward. To register for the Garage48 hackathon in Tallinn, make sure to choose “Estonia” as your hackathon location.

PS! You don’t need to give consent for the processing of personal data outside of EEA. This is only required if you want to join the local hackathon in Ukraine.

Step 3: Add your skills to your profile

To finish your registration, you need to add skills to your profile. To do so, head to your profile overview by clicking on your profile picture in the top right corner of the TAIKAI menu. The skills section is in the left column.

If you want to fill in your bio and previous experience, feel free to do so. It’ll come in handy when you want to join a team.

Step 4: Enable matchmaking

If you want to join a team, you’ll have to enable matchmaking. You can do so by heading to the hackathon page and clicking on “Preferences” in the left column. This is also the place where you can edit your registration, cancel participation, or change the country in whose hackathon you’re taking part.

Submitting an idea

Have an idea for the hackathon? Awesome! To submit, head to the hackathon page and you’ll find a “Create project” button where you used to see “Join the hackathon”.

A pop-up will appear asking for the project name and description. Don’t worry, your project isn’t published straight away and you can edit this later!

If you’re registering as a team and your team members are already registered on TAIKAI, you can add them to your project via username. You’ll find your username after taikai.network/ in the URL on your profile overview. If they haven’t registered yet you can invite them via email later.

After you click “Create project” you’ll see a draft of your project. Here, you’ll be able to add a detailed description of your project and any relevant attachments.

NB! As a tag, make sure to add “Estonia” to join the Garage48 hackathon and choose the topic area you’re working on as a category.

When you’re happy with your project, publish it and start forming your team via the “Positions” tab. You’ll be able to list available project positions or invite team members by email.

Adding members to your team

There are three ways to find team members to join your project.

1. Applications to open positions

If someone applies for an open position in your team, you’ll be able to accept them in the “Positions” section of your project.

2. Recruit through the Participants tab

Alternatively, you can actively recruit participants through the “Participants” tab. To see the participants who registered for the hackathon in Estonia, choose the relevant tag. If you spot someone with relevant skills and they’ve enabled matchmaking, you can invite them to join your team via the button.

If they haven’t enabled matchmaking, but you’re interested in inviting them to your team, click on their name to go to their profile and message them directly.

3. Find members through the Discord server

After you’ve registered through TAIKAI, you’ll be able to join the Discord server. It’ll become more active as the hackathon approaches, but you can all introduce your idea in the #find-a-team channel.

Finding a team to join

There are three ways to find a team to join.

1. Matchmaking

In the Matchmaking tab, you’ll see a list of all open positions across all 11 hackathon locations. To learn more about the projects, click on the team name and you’ll be taken to the project page where you can apply for a suitable position.

2. Browsing through projects

When you look at all submitted projects, you’ll see an “Open positions” tag in the corner of the project’s cover photo if the team is still open for new members.

To see the projects submitted for the Garage48 hackathon in Tallinn, choose “Estonia” in the filters.

You also have the option to filter by topic area and sort by name or date submitted.

If you find a team with a suitable open position, apply for it and the team lead will then be able to accept or reject your application.

If you want to join a team with no open positions, you can send a message to the team lead through their profile to see if they’d be able to take you in. You’ll see all the team members on the project description page.

3. Find members through the Discord server

After you’ve registered through TAIKAI, you’ll be able to join the Discord server. It’ll become more active as the hackathon approaches, but you can all already introduce yourself and your skills in the #find-a-team channel.