Tech competition GovHack coming to The Backhouse in Whanganui

Whanganui District Council connected community adviser Jo Buckingham.

The Backhouse in Whanganui’s CBD will be a hive of tech activity this weekend as Australasian competition GovHack hits town.

Small teams have 46 hours to create “hacks” using open government information, thus making the information more useful or engaging.

One of the organisers, Whanganui District Council connected community adviser Jo Buckingham, said people often thought tech meant coding but there was a lot more to the sector than that.

Coding refers to writing instructions that guid a computer or electronic device to perform a task.

“Technology is design, it’s marketing, it’s more than just sitting at a computer,” Buckingham said.

“Presenting data in different ways or having different ways for people to play with it is so important, and that’s what I’ve always loved about GovHack.”

She said teams had to come up with a project page, proof of concept and a video, which would be presented to a judging panel.

Often, teams will design websites and apps.

Last year’s big national winner was Questionable Research Lab’s “Dirty Watts” - a web dashboard that shows the megawatts of power being generated from sources such as hydro, wind, coal and gas.

Buckingham said in 2021, a team made an app inspired by Pokemon GO for the Christchurch City Council that enabled users to report issues like full rubbish bins and potholes.

“You could record them on the app and get points. It’s about thinking ‘How can I make it exciting for people?’” Buckingham said.

The former GovHack Aotearoa national coordinator Mike Price died in last year.

Buckingham said Price did a lot for tech in Whanganui and he always believed tech companies could be run in the city.

YetiTech founder Brad Kirkland.

Taking up Price’s mantle is Whanganui’s Brad Kirkland, the founder of YetiTech.

He is now the director of GovHack Aotearoa.

Kirkland said without Price, the GovHack ship in New Zealand was “heading for an iceberg”.

“I’ve managed to realign things and maintain it, otherwise it would have been dissolved.

“That would have been really disheartening considering how full of life Mike was about GovHack.”

Kirkland and his YetiTech team won a GovHack category in 2021.

They enabled a module to be placed at the bottom of webpages that linked people with a suicide prevention chatline.

“You could go there and seek support.

“There was a live chat for youth councillors and resources on how to get help when you’re going through the worst of things.”

Buckingham said it was important there were people who could show others the path forward with tech.

Price was one of those people.

“He was turning up to help me at the Hakeke Street Community Centre and he must have known he was terminal.

“That was how important it was to him that the next generation got inspired by technology.

“I’ve carried that with me with all the work I’ve done in Whanganui.”

Kirkland said having a tech background was a plus for GovHack but it didn’t guarantee a good outcome.

“You need someone to make sure everything is on track and you don’t get to the last minute to put together a video submission.

“Someone can come from a design background to make the work look pretty.

“A developer can connect things up and get the data but if it doesn’t look great it’s going to be hard to convince judges that it’s a good product or platform.”

GovHack Whanganui runs from 5pm on Friday, August 20, to 6pm on Sunday, August 22 in The Backhouse at 28 Taupo Quay.

Challenges are announced at the commencement of the event.

Entering the competition is free and open to all ages and laptops can be provided if needed.

For more information, visit www.govhack.org

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.