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Technology: Hawai‘i’s Code Challenge

Pixabay Commons
Pixabay Commons

The state of Hawaii knows its technology infrastructure is behind the times. Now government officials are reaching out to the tech community for help. Pacific Business News Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier has more.

Ever since his first State of the State address in 2015, Governor David Ige has talked about the importance of improving the state’s information technology, both its hardware and software.

In August, the state will turn to the most cutting edge part of the private sector for some solutions. This will take the form of a month-long event called the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge. The goal is put the tech problems of the state in front of the coders and tech minds at DevLeague, Hawaii’s only software development bootcamp, to see what they come up with.

DevLeague is just one of the partners from the larger tech community called StartUp Paradise. Its role will be offering training workshops and assisting developers as they create prototype solutions on the spot. DevLeague is a natural fit, it’s the only organization in Hawaii to have held a statewide hackathon.

Participants may be able to help the state in unexpected ways. They won’t just be responding to a list of problems the state wants to have solved. They’ll also be encouraged to bring to this hackathon a list of problems they think the state should be solving, in hopes that fresh eyes looking at state operations will find opportunities for improvement.

A. Kam Napier is the editor-in-chief of Pacific Business News.
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