Sixth state government hackathon underway

"We have Fred Flintstone technology," said Christina Nordell, who works at the Airport Animal Quarantine facility at the Honolulu airport.

It was about as succinct a problem statement as you could get at the kickoff event for the Hawaii Annual Code Channel, or HACC.

Four state government agencies yesterday presented five problems that they felt could be solved with creativity and code from the community, ranging from protecting our fragile natural environment to connecting native Hawaiians to local resources.

Calling civic-minded hackers

The second annual HACC in 2017 at the East-West Center.

When it comes to embracing software development as the key to future success, we've pretty much come full circle, from "everyone should learn how to code" to "please don't learn to code" back to "computer science everywhere."

Wherever the pendulum swings, more people are getting into coding than ever before. And for now, related career opportunities are growing "much faster than average."

Programming is a worthwhile talent to nurture, whether you want to build a simple tool to solve a specific problem, chase a career in Silicon Valley, or build the next Instagram, TikTok, Microsoft, or Salesforce. And a lot of coders are motivated by more than money.

"Civic hackers" are software developers, engineers, designers, and other people who want to use their technological talents to help or support their communities.

Rather than building a one-off, niche app, civic hackers think at a higher level, and aim for larger scale solutions. And a lot of the time, that means connecting with governments, non-profits, and other institutions to reach the most people, and have the greatest impact.

Welcoming Code For America to Hawaii with a civic "write-a-thon."

"Code For America," founded in 2009, built a national framework for this kind of citizen, organization, and government collaboration. Initially, developers and technologists were embedded inside state and local governments to study problems, propose solutions, and build them.

In 2012, Code for America launched the "National Day of Civic Hacking," which threw open the doors to regular citizens. This annual event, held every September, is still going strong. This year's event focused on "Reimagining 911."

In 2013, the first Congressional App Challenge was held, focusing on students. Representatives host a computer science competition every year. Last year, an Iolani School student won top honors for Hawaii with a glaucoma screening app. This year's competition is still underway.

Civic hacking in Hawaii

CityCamp Honolulu in 2011 was held at UH Mānoa.

Hawaii has been at the forefront of this now global movement.

Honolulu was selected to host a CFA team in 2011, and the city hosted Hawaii's first civic hacking event, CityCamp, that same year. (I posted photos here.) The HON*Celerator followed in 2012, and the Civic*Celerator followed in 2014. (Yes, I have photos and more photos.) I used my brief stint as a Civil Beat columnist back then to highlight the local civic hacking community.

The Code For America collaboration spawned a permanent Code For America regional "brigade," Code for Hawaii, which still hosts events. Well, virtual events for now.

The first HACC was held in 2017, a standing-room-only affair hosted at Hawaii Pacific University at Aloha Tower. An impressive eight agencies made "reverse pitches," presenting attendees with problems they needed help with. The winning app that year was LoveMilkTea, a guide to the campus of UH Mānoa.

The last in-person HACC was in 2019, returning to HPU. That year's winning app was aimed at monitoring electric vehicle charging stations.

Then, pandemic. Even though last year's HACC was virtual, it still drew 26 teams and over 140 participants. Fittingly, the winning app was a COVID-19 chatbot.

HACC 2021

HACC 2021 kicked off via Zoom yesterday with five challenges.

This year's HACC is also being conducted virtually. Yesterday's kickoff event featured five pitches by four agencies.

The clear crowd favorite was the animal quarantine facility at the airport, operated by the Department of Agriculture. Nordell painted a bleak picture of its operations.

Over 100 animals are released every day, she said, and it's barely contained chaos.

The Airport Animal Quarantine pick up and drop off office is a tiny, 10' by 6' space within which staff, pet owners, and their pets need to navigate around each other, COVID-19 protocols, and paperwork.

And the situation is even more bleak outside, where people wait in long lines in the hot sun, with no shade, water, or restrooms. Heat stroke is a daily concern.

How do pet owners know when their pet is queued up in the tiny office and ready to be released? They stand around outside the door, where there is a small intercom, to listen for their names to be called.

"The intercom was never meant to be used in this way," Nordell said. "The alternative is to attempt to call owners’ phones, which they don’t always answer, possibly because our number is blocked."

"We’re asking for a way to get in touch with the owners remotely to let them know their dogs and cats are ready to sign in or sign out," Nordell said.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources wants help protecting hiking trails.

Two of the pitches focused on the same problem: how to protect Hawaii's natural resources, especially as tourism resumes and popular tourist spots are increasingly overrun.

"One of the few things you could do during the pandemic was going hiking, so we saw an increase in local residents hiking — we got a chance to really see our trails and forest reserves," said presenter Aaron Lowe. "Then, when we opened our doors back to tourism, we were overwhelmed by the number of people who came back to the islands and we started to see an extreme increase in use."

Beyond the environmental impact, tensions are also rising as surrounding communities deal with noise, traffic, litter, and parking.

"There are a lot of different kids of attitudes out there, and some people are being really disrespectful or not really appreciating our natural resources or knowing how to protect them and leave no trace," Lowe said.

Instead of charging for use, as has been proposed, the DLNR sees another way to mitigate the damage.

"If you have more trails and people have more opportunities, then there’s less impact on individual trails," Lowe said. "Can we use technology to spread the traffic out, spread that use out?"

The DLNR mocked up a hiking map app that could show trail traffic levels.

Lowe went as far as mocking up an app that showed the number of people on the DLNR's 126 trails, similar to driving traffic apps. With information on what days of the week and what times of day are the busiest, hikers could choose and schedule outings to avoid crowds and spread out the load.

Fellow DLNR presenter Marigold Zoll, meanwhile, took a behavior modification approach.

Zoll pitched the Play Pono Points app, which would gamify the enjoyment of the great outdoors. Points and rewards could be earned for making smarter choices, including picking up trash, choosing a different trail, parking legally or getting dropped off, being quiet, or not tresspassing.

She saw opportunities to partner with businesses and community groups, and said there may be funding available from the federal government or the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

The other two challenges were presented by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and Hawaii Marine Animal Response (HMAR), a nonprofit partnering with government portal vendor NIC Hawaii.

OHA wants to use a chatbot to help triage the 13,000 phone calls it receives each year, connecting more native Hawaiians with the right programs faster. HMAR is looking for an app to streamline endangered species sighting data collection.

The details of each challenge can be found here.

The HACC plan

HACC 2021 culminates in a demo day on Nov. 20.

Participants in the HACC are able to use any technology or platform they want to solve the problem. Even so, I was intrigued to see this year's pitches going as far as mocking up the solution they're hoping to see. Perhaps people have thought a little too far outside the box in the past.

Teams must be formed by Oct. 30, and projects must be selected by Nov. 6. Application code is due for review by Nov. 10 (though development can continue), with finalists selected by Nov. 17 for the final public pitches and judging on Nov. 20.

There are several workshops offered in the mean time.

First place winners will receive $4,000, second place $2,000, and third place $1,000. There is also a separate high school division with a $1,000 first prize and a $500 second prize.

Winners will also get to present at the Hawaii Digital Government Summit in December, and have the opportunity to turn their applications into actual businesses.

A final note, you don't have to be a developer to participate in the HACC. While it is a "code challenge," software development has a number of facets, and each project will also need talents like design, project management, and marketing.

To learn more, and to become a civic hacker in Hawaii, visit hacc.hawaii.gov.

Mānoa Falls photo courtesy Rosanna U/Getty Images.