JunctionX, which has become one of the most popular hackathons in the international professional community in recent years, returned to Budapest from 22 to 24 October. More than 300 young developers from all over the world showcased their creativity and professionalism in the exciting challenges of the hackathon to dazzle the jury of experts from EPAM, Vodafone, Varian and Wise with their practical innovations. The absolute winner was Team Discover, which supports globetrotting and financial awareness, while the audience favourite was The Bridge labour market app. In addition to the thousands of euros in prizes, the winners also proved that technological advances can make a real difference in tackling important societal problems.
On the first day of the 48-hour competition, the contestants had the opportunity to learn about this year’s JunctionX Budapest challenges, and then had exactly 2 days to put together their entire project, from idea to technical implementation. In addition to the 2-minute pitch video, they had to submit the source code to convince the jury that they had created a practical innovation that could actually solve their problem. Varian’s challenge was to improve the monitoring of cancer therapy and facilitate doctor-patient communication, while Vodafone wanted to improve its existing customer engagement application to make it more interactive and provide a more immersive user experience (read the exact challenges here).
The winners of the challenges, sponsored by JunctionX Budapest corporate partners, could win prizes worth €1,500 to €2,000, plus the chance to present their development live in front of an international audience. The audience and the judges had plenty of questions for the finalists, but Team Discover and The Bridge were not to be embarrassed: the former won the Wise challenge and took this year’s Junction grand prize which means a 5,000 € amount of money, while the second triumphed in the EPAM challenge and went on to win the audience prize and took home 2,000 €.
The grand winner, Team Discover has provided a solution to today’s globalisation phenomenon through the Wise challenge: their app allows world travellers to easily assess local market prices, find the best deals and get the product they want through the app – no more currency exchange and cheated tourists. EPAM’s challenge was a reflection of the current labour market problems, and the development of The Bridge is a pertinent response, offering a platform for connecting the 50-60s, a group with a lot of experience but who are disadvantaged in terms of employment.
Find all the projects of JunctionX Budapest on this link:
https://app.hackjunction.com/projects/junctionx-budapest-1
Or check out the hackathon’s official website here:
https://budapest.hackjunction.com/