It was all about collaboration, ideas taking shape, latest technology and techies talking shop; a perfect day out of the office in other words. One of the ways we made this codeFest bigger than the previous one was a full day set aside for setting up technical environments. This time we made sure that all the …
Day 0 of the second FNB codeFest was held recently on Spring Day; our theme was the green shoots of ideation. It’s been said that Thomas Edison figured out 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb; all his attempts still contributed to the one that changed the world. Fintech ideation is a lot about disruptive thinking to find …
It’s the difference between thriving and surviving; big business and government also have a crucial role to play. I participated in a panel debate at the Innovation Summit in Cape Town today where we discussed the importance of “enabling ecosystems for innovation.” As a banker I had already been told earlier in the day that …
Do techpreneurs need an ecosystem that supports innovation? Read More »
Prototyping new technology is exciting and important but speeding up current projects is equally valuable to business. A colleague emailed me this week about the next FNB codeFest which is being held 28 Sept – 2 Oct. She explained her team was keen to get involved but it would put strain on a big release that was …
Codefests should also accelerate in-flight projects Read More »
Rewards are fun and easy to give out but do they really motivate coders to write better software? The biggest hackathon prize money so far was $1m which was awarded to a team of 2 at a Salesforce.com event. It was later disputed because they were found to have worked on their app for a year beforehand. …
Avoid a case of too many hammers and not enough nails with structured ideation before your event. We all know how it works, some IT departments love a certain technology and every problem can be tailor made to reverse fit the pre-built, pre-decided solution. There is one hammer and everything becomes a nail, in fact often people …
It’s about rapid innovation with software, and a South African version even produced a solution that could stop patients dying in long hospital queues. One of the principles of Agile software development is to rapidly create working software rather than wait for detailed designs. The quicker you can prototype a concept, the faster you create a feedback loop between the development …
Codefests (aka Hackathons): What are they and why do them? Read More »
Putting a group of software developers together to build prototypes requires planning; here’s how In many ways a codefest is like a conference – like minded people getting together for a couple of days with a schedule of various activities. All the logistics of running such an event need to be covered and it’s preferable to get a professional …
