BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will host the Coding for a Cause social hackathon from noon Saturday, Nov. 1 to noon Sunday, Nov. 2, at the Center of Excellence Symposium Hall and the rotunda at the Innovative Technologies Complex, 85 Murray Hill Road, Vestal. The event is free and open to the public.

Computer programmers and others will work over a 24-hour period to come up with potential solutions to technological issues faced by local non-profits on a regular basis. A panel of seven judges from United Way of Broome County and Community Foundation for South Central New York, including three computer science faculty, will award prize money for the winning submissions, with one overall "most technically impressive" prize.

Challenges will benefit organizations in many ways: one challenge will help with United Way’s transition to a community impact model for funding; one will help any organization that has to deal with the logistics of warehousing, donation pick-up and client transportation; one will help organizations that are trying to engage low-income communities; and the final will help any nonprofit that engages in fundraising via social media.

Any mobile apps generated from this hackathon will be eligible for entry in the AT&T CNY Civic App Challenge, a two-month virtual hackathon for Upstate New York software developers to leverage open data to build smartphone apps that serve community needs. 

This event is sponsored by Binghamton University’s Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation Partnerships, in conjunction with the Office of the President, the United Way and other local donors.

For questions, contact Jessica Miller at jlmiller@binghamton.edu.