Bring hackathon into Icelandic universities

Three students in industrial engineering and computer science at the University of Iceland; Fríða Snædís Jóhannesdóttir, Kristjana Björk Barðdal and Sara Björk Másdóttir, organize the Reboot Hack at the University Centre (Háskólatorg) the first weekend in February. Reboot Hack is the first ever student organized hackathon held in Iceland within the international Major League Hacking.  Around 30 international participants are currently registered.

The organising team say that Hackathon can be thought of as an invention marathon where participants get space to learn, build and create; a competition in programming and innovation if you will. Students compete in a groups of a maximum size of 5 and work for over 24 hours to develop and build innovative technological solutions from scratch. 

Aim to bring the hacker culture to Iceland

Sandra Björg got the idea last spring when she had the opportunity to observe the execution of the student oriented Copenhacks at the headquarters of Microsoft in Denmark. "I got acquainted with Major League Hacking (MLH) in Denmark and the whole hackathon culture that exists in university communities in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. Hence the idea of a student driven hackathon in Iceland," says Sandra Björk. She was part of a five member team of students from the University of Iceland that won the hackathon at the Startup Iceland conference last spring.

The organising committee then became complete with the participation of Fríða and Kristjana Björk in May 2018 who sought collaboration with the University of Iceland for the event. When the University's School of Engineering and Natural Sciences offered housing and various other support the project began for real and the application process for MLH began. "We have developed the idea together completely from scratch, creating the brand and event Reboot Hack," says Sara Björk.

Kristjana adds that the main motivation for the event is to strengthen and create a rich hackathon culture in Iceland whilst introducing it as a tool to create something from scratch, useful to exceptional students from all fields of study. The hackathon culture has thus far belonged to companies and institutes; and not been particularly student oriented. We want to create this ourselves so that Reboot Hack remain independent in the interest of students," says Kristjana. She emphasizes that all solutions, ideas or technology created at Reboot Hack are the property of the participants themselves. "We will, however, offer the teams continuing collaboration with companies if there is an interest," adds Kristjana.

Part of Major League Hacking

The competition is part of the international Major League Hacking that has taken place all over the world this winter.   Reboot Hack is open to both Icelandic and international students and the organising committee is expecting approximately one hundred participants, and around 30 international students have already registered. "We are very proud to be the first Icelandic hackathon that is a part of Major League Hacking. An agent from MLH come in Iceland for the event to assist us and all participants. The agent will, furthermore, bring equipment that MLH provides for Reboot Hack and will be at the disposal for the teams in their work," says Fríða.

Sara Björk adds that the sponsors provide equipment and challenges as well as a special prize for the best solution for that technology and challenge. There will also be prizes for the first to third place in the competition.  "We will reveal more about the prizes when the event draws closer, but we can proudly announce that part of the first prize is a ticket for all members of the winning team to UTMESSAN, one of the largest IT events in Iceland. It will be held on Friday 8 February, a week after Reboot Hack," she says.

Want to make Reboot Hack an annual event

Kristjana admitted that it was their dream to make Reboot Hack an annual event within in the University, even collaborating with other universities. "We are looking into the possibility of creating a course at the University of Iceland on event planning connected to innovation and the execution of the Reboot Hack event," she adds.

Even though the competition will be formally over on 3 February the work of the organizing committee is not over. "One of our sponsors is Ský that organises UTMESSAN, one of the largest IT events in Iceland. They have invited us to promote the Hackathon there on the opening day on 9 February. There we will tell the audience about our event with selected sponsors and hopefully the winning team," says Fríða.

They all encourage students from all of fields of study to familiarize themselves with the competition and sign up, as it is for everyone who is interested in innovation and entrepreneurial activities.  Registration for the competition takes place on its website.

You can follow the event on facebook.