What Is The EOS Hackathon
The EOS Hackathon series is a program founded and funded by Block One that not only incentives the creation of innovative dApps built on EOS but also get like-minded individuals together to develop new personal relationships. That aside, I am sure the $1.5 Million prize pool is incentive enough for anyone with a great idea to get involved.
So how are these submissions judged I hear you say? well here you go
- Utilization of EOSIO Blockchain Tech: How well suited is this idea for blockchain technology? Is there a clear need for it?
- Creativity: Is the idea unique?
- Impact: Did the team create a dApp that has a real impact? Can it be used and work in the real world?
- Scalability: Growth potential of the application? What impact can it have on the world as a whole?
The Judges are no Simon Cowell, but they are
- Brendan Blumer – CEO, Block.one
- Dan Larimer – CTO, Block.one
- Michael Cao – Founder, EOS Global
- Winnie Liu – Founder, EOS Global
- Stefan Schuetze – FinLab AG
- Dr. Jane Thomason – CEO, Abt Associates
- Joshua Lavin – Developer Relations, Block.one
Serg Metelin – Head of Developer Relations, Block.one
We have seen a lot of people complaining about the amount of money the Block One raised during the one-year ICO they held, stating that no project needs that kind of money. If we put jealousy to the back of our minds for a moment, we can see that allocating funds to this type of project is an excellent decision for the EOS community. The Hackathon will boost not only the visibility of EOS as the tournament travels around the globe, it will also help new and/or underfunded developers with great ideas and potential to realize their vision. Without a program like the Hackathon, they may not have been able to do so, and we could have potentially lost some fantastic opportunities.
The EOS Global Hackathon series is a first-of-its-kind event in the world of blockchain that serves Block.one’s goal of supporting a decentralized global community from the ground up.
The Hackathons next stop is SYDNEY starting August 4th through to the 5th, the last stop before the grand finale is LONDON starting on September 22nd through 23rd.
First Prize Goes Too.
The first EOS Hackathon was held in China, June 9-10 and had a fantastic turn out from people all over the world. All the teams participating were fighting for a prize of $100,000 and a place in the grand finale which will be announced on December the 8th this year. Team IDPASS won the first Hackathon with their dApp that aims to provide always accessible identification with storing access to the data on the blockchain.
Here is what the team had to say about theirs dApp.
The “why” is one simple figure: over one billion people in the world do not have any form of identification documents. Those are obviously required to access services such as education, healthcare, banking or even justice.
Our proposed response to this global issue relies on one main concept: Self-Sovereign Identity.
Because those people live in often unstable or inaccessible areas, we believe that they need a form of identification that is under their control and retrievable when needed, while reducing the risk of their identity being used against them. They must be able to prove their identity without relying on a shared central database that could be used to track them. This is exactly where the blockchain comes into action, as it enables us to use cryptographic proof to validate authenticity rather than, for instance, a government’s seal.
We use the blockchain to solely anchor the identity and act as a Decentralized Public Key Infrastructure but not store any other identifiable data on the blockchain, even in an encrypted format. All data is stored on a device which is owned by the individual.
With 3 long-time friends, Jeremy Bethmont, Loic Bistuer, and Greg Martel – we all met at university 15 years ago – I co-founded Newlogic, a software consultancy and development company headquartered in Singapore with offices throughout Southeast Asia. We have been working with humanitarian agencies for the last 4 years on projects revolving around biometrics and identity, which gives us the expertise and experience required to understand and help tackle such a huge issue.
The second and third prize winnings were still nothing to scoff at, they were $25,000 and $10,000respectively. Blockflare took home second prize, which was $25,000 USD. Blockflare, a decentralized anti-DDos platform, works on DDoS mitigation via the team’s new proof-of-work and Tor routing protocol. Third place was given to Ducatur, who received $10,000 USD. Ducator wants to build the first decentralized exchange for EOS and Ether that is as fast as Binance. Other categories that won prizes where:
- Best Social Impact - Smart Cities Steroids - $3000
- Best User Experiencee - Warranteas $3000
- Best Social Media Post - Shabaz Ahmed - $3000
It seemed like a great event and I am looking forward to watching the highlights of the Syndey Hackathon.