The twitter feed formerly known as @scihackct is now @SciHackSA
Anyone interested in organising these events, send us an email to sciencehackday@science.mu, the new email address of SciHackSA.
The website has migrated to this new site for the South African Science Hack Day community with hopefully lots of contributors and participants!
Hackers!
The first day of this event saw a really interesting mix of people get to know each other and start working on amazing projects! So far, the feedback is mostly:
As far as I can tell, everyone is really getting into their hacks and we can’t wait to see what’ll come out of it!
Download the press release in PDF
Cape Town, 24th January 2012
Two events this week show the growing interest in making science more fun, enjoyable and accessible for everyone. The Cape Town Science Hack Day – first of its kind in Africa – and an Open Knowledge meet-up bring together scientists, technologists, designers and educators who wish for science and its benefits to be within the reach of the general population.
In many parts of the developed world, computer geeks and scientists get together and innovate science using technology. This can lead to so-called ‘citizen science’ projects for example, where members of the public can help real research and learn about science at the same time. This thinking is now catching on in Cape Town, where academics and technologists concerned by this issue are coming together.
Continue reading
38 registrations already! (Thursday midday)
Just a couple of points as the preparations come along…
- No computers wille be provided, you will need to bring your own laptop!
- Please tell us if you can’t make it (even at the last minute) so that we can give your spot to other people!
You can save that image or download our PDF here (60KB)
Science Hack Day in San Francisco 2011 (photo: Matt Biddulph)
Science Hack Day Cape Town is the first Science Hack Day in Africa. We have therefore adopted the theme of hacking science for development!
WHAT IS SCIENCE HACK DAY?
The mission of Science Hack Day is to get excited and make things with science! A Hack Day is a 48-hour event that brings together designers, developers, scientists and other geeks in the same physical space for a brief but intense period of collaboration, hacking, and building ‘cool stuff’. By collaborating on focused tasks during this short period, small groups of hackers are capable of producing remarkable results!
WHAT’S A HACK?
A hack is a quick solution to a problem – maybe not the most elegant solution, but often the cleverest. On the web, mashups are a common example of hacking: mixing up data from different sources in new and interesting ways.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
If you’re an amateur coder, designer, scientist, hacker or just an enthusiastic person with good ideas, Science Hack Day is for you.
WHY CAPE TOWN?
After London in 2010, San Francisco in 2010, Cincinatti, Mexico City and San Francisco in 2011, Science Hack Day is coming to Cape Town!
With four tertiary level education institutions (UCT, UWC, CPUT, SU) and national research agencies (SKA Africa, SAAO, CHPC, iThemba Labs, SANSA, ALC, SANAP, SACEMA) in the region, science is alive in Cape Town!
Add to that a vibrant design community that got us the title of 2014 World Design Capital under the same theme of design to transform lives, and you could be part of something really new and different! Bring science and design together with African ingenuity. Who knows what could come out of it?
HOW AND HOW MUCH?
The event is FREE and we will feed you!
You just need to be among the 50 first people to register at: http://scihackct.eventbrite.com/
WHEN AND WHERE?
28-29 January 2012
African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
6 Melrose Road
Muizenberg 7945
Science Hack Day location
Come and meet similarly spirited people for a week-end of fun and creativity! You can even take a surf break on the beach… 
We have opened the Cape Town Science Hack Day registration on Eventbrite. Click below to go to the registration page.
On the Open Knowledge Foundation blog, Rufus Pollock and François Gray write:
There are two exciting open data and open knowledge events in Cape Town South Africa taking place in the next week (in which we’ll both be participating).
First up, this Saturday and Sunday, 19-20 November 2011, we’ll be holding an Open Data and Science hackfest at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
Then next Tuesday, from 6:30pm-8:30pm an Open Knowledge Meetup (#OpenMeetupCT) is being organized for those interested in Open Data, Open Content and Open Source.
We are going to attend both – inspiration and follow-up for Science Hack Day Cape Town? The community is building up!…
More info on these events can be found here:
1. Africa@Home Hackfest at AIMS
2. #OpenMeetupCT
Save the date!
28-29 January 2012
Cape Town Science Hack Day! @SciHackCT
Venue and other details to come….
Some inspiration:
South Africa is a hub to the African continent and Cape Town is probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It makes a lot of sense to organise a Science Hack Day here.
SCiENCE
It can bring together scientists in the region from Higher Education institutions, e.g. the AIMS Research Centre and universities of Cape Town (UCT), of the Western Cape (UWC) and of Stellenbosch (SU) and from national research facilities, e.g. the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), iThemba Labs (nuclear physics), the South African National Space Agency Space Science Centre (SANSA) in Hermanus, the African Laser Centre (ALC), the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), SKA Africa (radio astronomy).
AFRICA
The challenges facing the African continent are vast and complex and one way of better understanding them is good data science. And data on Africa is plentiful and scattered. At the same time, the MeerKAT radio telescope – South African precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – will also generate vast quantities of data. With the help of the CTDN and the local scientists, data science and visualization is a likely natural theme to this Science Hack Day.
This Science Hack Day will showcase some of the ingenuity of local scientists; Africa is rarely seen as a destination of choice for science but the natural ingenuity on the continent has that hacker spirit of making things that work with what there is (see, e.g. the afrigadget.com blog). This very African trait can really make this event a success.
DESIGN
The collaboration with the Cape Town Design Network (CTDN) brings in another dimension to the Hack Day, which is essential. The Cape Town Design Network has participated in the initiative to make Cape Town World Design Capital in 2014. The theme of the bid is using design and technology to change lives. Cape Town is currently shortlisted with Dublin and Bilbao in a list of over 50 applications. The title winner will be announced on October 26 2011 on the annual ICSID IDA conference.
After the FIFA Soccer World Cup, the Communicating Astronomy to the Public conference, the 6th World Science Centre Congress, the International Astrunautical Congress have all held their first African event in Cape Town in the last couple of years, the buzz is real in the mother city!
Organisers (so far):
Now, who is interested in attending?
Planning for Science Hack Day in Cape Town has begun! Stay tuned to this space or follow @SciHackCT for updates.
