eBay Inc. today announced 'Opportunity Hack,' a hackathon that brings together software developers and domain experts in the field of social media, mobile and data technology, in support of nonprofits to create impactful solutions for their technology problems. The 36-hour, open-format event will be held at PayPal's Development Center in Chennai on October 11-12 and at eBay Inc.'s Bangalore Development center on November 8-9, 2014.
The hack session encourages a team of up to 6 hackers - a combination of eBay and PayPal employees, external developers and representatives from nonprofit organizations - to focus on solving real challenges faced by nonprofits and building solutions they aspire to. These could include writing programs for a website, devising a social media campaign plan, or building internal applications for day-to-day use, besides solving common tech problems.
The overall goal will be to connect employees and other developers, collaborate with organizations, and create solutions that have a positive impact. Participants will also construct a prototype of a solution for marketing, data analysis needs, or technical needs.
Anupam Pahuja, General Manager, PayPal Technology - APAC, said, "At eBay Inc., every day we apply technology to simplify things. Most organizations today have at least one challenge or need that can be solved with a technology solution. Through the Opportunity Hack, we are providing a platform for volunteers to solve tech problems and help organizations that are doing great work in the community."
"The Opportunity Hack enables and empowers nonprofit organizations with technology. It is a perfect opportunity for the people of eBay Inc. to collaborate with the nonprofits and build solutions that really matter to the community. This unique concept helps hackers get to the root of the problem and provide impactful and innovative resolutions," Ram Narayanan, General Manager, eBay Product Development Center, India, said.
The first Opportunity Hack took place in October 2013 in San Jose, California and was created by a cross-functional team at eBay. About 80 employees and external developers joined 20 representatives from nonprofit organizations to pitch a total of 24 ideas, 20 of which were built and demoed.
