Academic Centre
Participation in MediaHack 2021 is free of charge and anyone can register for the event until June 2 with or without their own idea. Pre-created teams can apply, while those participants who apply individually will have an opportunity to create a new team or join somebody else's team. Registration: https://mediahack.co
Within a period of 48 hours, MediaHack 2021 participants will create interdisciplinary teams to generate new, innovative ideas, build prototypes and evaluate the potential of their business model. Teams will work on projects in four categories: "Media Content Creation", "Media Content Distribution", "Interactive and Inclusive Media Content" and "Future Media".
"Hackathon is an opportunity for all participants to discover their potential, share ideas, meet new like-minded people and help solve important issues for society. The challenges of this hackathon are related to media content and its impact on all of us. During the hackathon, participants will broaden their horizons and probably will find their future calling", points out Professor Signe Bāliņa, Director of the LU Innovation Center of the University of Latvia.
During the hackathon, teams will have the opportunity to get advice from both media and technology professionals and experts. Before the hackathon, there will be two pre-hackathon webinars about media challenges (May 19) and media technology trends (May 26). Artificial intelligence, 5G technologies, augmented and virtual reality are just some of the technologies that will change the way media content is created and consumed.
“DELFI regularly takes care of the development and qualitative growth of the media industry, both by organizing a school for young journalists and by supporting students with scholarships and internships. This time we want to support new ideas and solutions that could help develop the media and our industry as a whole. Representatives of the DELFI team will participate in the hackathon as experts, as well we will provide a 1,500 EUR prize for the first place winner. Therefore, we encourage participants to be enthusiastic and innovative and, if necessary, turn to our experts for advice. After the hackathon, we are ready to consider the possibility of starting cooperation with some of the teams to reach the best possible audience, ”says Konstantin Kuzikov, Chairman of the Board of DELFI.
To develop students' innovative thinking, creative skills and entrepreneurship, Riga Technical University and the University of Latvia are implementing the project "Innovation Grants for Students". Students of all programs and levels are welcome to engage in various activities, develop entrepreneurship, collaborate with industry, develop early science-intensive business ideas, and receive scholarships and support grants. The event is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project No.1.1.1.3 / 18 / A / 007 "Innovation Grants for Students of the University of Latvia".
"Technology has changed the way information is transmitted and received since ancient times. For example, Gutenberg who invented the printing press, changed the way and speed in which people can receive information. Thanks to this technology, new industries emerged, and the general public became more informed. Therefore, I invite all students to come up with bold ideas in this hackathon. You may create new or combine existing technologies that will allow you to create innovative and interesting media content, as well as provide content consumers with a unique experience," says Tālis Juhna, Tālis Juhna, Vice-Rector for Science of Riga Technical University.
The event partners are University of Latvia, Riga Technical University, RTU Design Factory, WindHackers, DELFI, Tilde, LSM.lv, Latvian Radio 5, Latvian Television, publishing house Latvijas mediji, Ghetto Games, Vividly.
"We are faced with several challenges - the dominance of social media giants, fake news and changes in the existing media business models That is why we need bold and innovative solutions to make the media credible, engaging and accessible to everyone now and in the future. Who creates media content and how? How is content delivered to the audience? How do we interact with media content? These are some of the questions that hackathon members will try to answer. We encourage hackathon participants to look at the media industry from different perspectives and challenge both themselves and their ideas", says Kārlis Skuja, the organiser of MediaHack 2021 and the head of the WindHackers.
The event is organised by WindHackers - a community for innovators and entrepreneurs. WindHackers aims to encourage young people to discover innovative and technology-based ideas and unite people with various skills to create new companies. Windhackers is known for the organisation of niche hackathons for the gaming industry (GameHack), the sports sector (SportHack) and the reproductive health challenges (SexHack) in 2020.
