At the end of June, we will once again be digitizing public administration. This time, the topic is being set by the Public Procurement Office, which aims to find a digital solution to support public procurement services and reduce the administrative burden on public procurers. The ninth hackathon, which we are co-organizing with the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development, and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, titled “Let’s Hack The Competition Documents,” will take place on June 21-22 at Simplicity’s premises in Sky Park Offices in Bratislava. Hacker teams can already register for the upcoming hackathon and compete for a financial reward. A total of up to €6000 is at stake!
Seeking a digital and modern IT solution
As part of the effort to tackle the administrative complexity of public procurement, the goal of the Public Procurement Office is to improve and modernize processes through a digital solution, such as an IT application. “We are a part of a hackathon at the Public Procurement Office for the first time and see it as a new way to address societal challenges. In the discussion, we want to find an optimal solution to the not-so-positive state caused by more than 20 years of absence of standardization of basic documentation in public procurement,” said Peter Kubovič, Chairman of the Public Procurement Office, regarding the hackathon.
The proposed solution should allow for the automatic search and generation of suitable documents from an existing database based on predefined user needs. Furthermore, the solution should be able to dynamically adapt selected parts of the relevant documents, and must include the capability to adjust to legislative changes, further updates, and user registration requirements.
From innovative ideas to real projects
Hackathons from the Hacknime.to project are funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Slovak Republic, meaning their significance does not end with the awarding of the event’s winning solution. Financial resources amounting to up to €100,000 excluding VAT are earmarked for the implementation of the proposed system.
“The Hacknime.to project creates a unique connection between talented young people, experienced professionals, and public institutions in the development of digital solutions. This time, we want to not only increase the efficiency of public procurement but also relieve public procurers of administrative burdens, which can directly contribute to the faster implementation of solutions developed at our events. Therefore, I will be glad if professionals from the community once again come to support the hackathon with their participation,” said Viktor Štefaňák, Head of Partnerships at Campus Cowork, regarding the hackathon.
Sign up and hack the competition documents!
Individuals and teams of tech specialists, topic experts, and young innovative people can register for the hackathon on the website hacknime.to.
Registered teams and experts will work intensively over the weekend on the challenge concept “Design a digital solution that will automatically search for and generate customized sample competition documents and general terms and conditions, while allowing selection between simple and modular competition documents,” with the winning solution being awarded a prize of up to €3000. Registration is open until June 19, 2024, or until capacity is reached.
