Hackathon Netwerk Brandweer - powered by VIAS en EYnovation™

Pre-registration: Netwerk Brandweer HACKATHON - Powered by VIAS and EYnovation™

Imagine you are a firefighter in the year 2030, sent off to extinguish a hazardous house fire. While responding, you are watching the video feed from an autonomous drone that was dispatched to the site of the fire. As you and the other responders arrive, you start to deploy several autonomous, small robots that enter the building and begin a self-directed search using a learning algorithm. Once victims are found, they relay the location to the heads-up display built into the face piece of your air mask. You enter the structure, now extinguished by the robots, using your integrated exoskeleton to make a quick rescue of the victim.

If this is a vision that you want to help make a reality, then we have the opportunity for your startup or scale-up to play a key role in the hackathon for the Fire Department of the future, organized by VIAS, Netwerk Brandweer and EY.

Who are we looking for?
For this Hackathon, EYnovation is looking for startups, scale-ups, developers and UI/UX designers who want to grab the opportunity to contribute to the future of public safety. “Toekomstvisie Brandweer 2030” is a program of the Belgian fire departments, looking at emerging technologies and innovations, and how these can be applied to benefit citizens across the country.

How does it work?
Pre-register your team and idea, and get your team ready for some serious hacking on October 16-18.

We are specifically looking for teams that can hack together innovative and disruptive solutions in one of the following areas:

Emerging Technologies: how will the fire department of the future benefit from IOT, Telematics, Sensors, Automation, EDI, BIM, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Blockchain, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Robotics & Drones
Smart Vehicles and Highways: How to address the challenges of the future means of transport like electric vehicles: how to cool after a fire, how to deal with hacked vehicles, etc.?
Emerging Communications: How can first responders leverage emerging communications devices and networks to communicate better at a scene?
Wearable Technology: Wearable technology is a fact of life today – whether it is your fitness tracker or your smart watch. How can wearable technology be advantageous for the firefighting department?
Drones and Robotics: How to use drones to support the actions in the field, How to use the new robotic devices to assist the firefighter?
Smart cities and Urbanization: Bringing cyber-physical systems (CPS) – the Internet of things we see in smart buildings and homes –can improve both the safety and the effectiveness of firefighters? How to address support in the denser urbanization?
Data: How to use data effectively to predict and avoid calamities? how to get access to home date in case of a fire? How to address people with relevant IT skills to help out with understanding the data?
Organization of the future: How to organize the Fire Service in an complex society, how to get the most out of the organization in a smart environment.
Training And Retention: The complexity of modern, industrialized life has created an increase in the skills needed in firefighting technology. Therefore, it is paramount to ask how to train and retain the firefighter of the future?