The German Informatics Society (GI) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research are launching the creative competition “HackTheSummer – Digital Ideas for a Better World”.

Berlin, June 22, 2020 – In a new national competition, GI is partnering with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to identify creative digital solutions that contribute to more ecological, economic and social sustainability. 

Under the motto “HackTheSummer – Digital Ideas for a Better World”, schoolchildren in teams of up to five people can submit their prototypes online until 19 September. These prototypes will contribute to achieving the sustainability goals of the United Nations. 

GI’s Managing director, Daniel Krupka, said the competition seeks to encourage school students to use the possibilities of digitization in the service of sustainability. 

“No matter whether it’s poverty reduction, climate change or better education: there are many pressing challenges. Solving them requires creativity, commitment and teamwork. This is exactly what we want to promote with HackTheSummer. That’s why I’m pleased that we, together with our partners, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the “Jugend Forscht” Foundation, the nationwide IT competitions and “Jugend hackt”, have a network of strong partners on board to implement this exciting competition”, he said.

In the first phase of the competition, all participants can obtain free support from experts in a wide range of fields. In addition, participants have access to regular virtual meetings, free access to digital aids, software solutions, learning tools and webinars. 

In the second phase, starting on 19 September, the submitted ideas will be assessed by an interdisciplinary jury. The best teams will then be invited to a hackathon during Code Week in Berlin, where they will receive individual, intensive coaching from experts. In addition, there are numerous non-cash prizes to be won by the winners.

You can find more information about the competition at: www.hack-the-summer.de