Did you have a warm winter? Did you recharge your batteries? We hope you did because something big is coming! Yes, you read that right we have another huge hackathon coming up this new year. It's none other than the 'NEXT IN' HACKATHON!
From tech visionary, Sundar Pichai to eminent actor Shahrukh khan almost everyone is a Cricket fan and be-it on-field performance or off-field engagement, all techies have their innovative ideas to share.
'NEXT IN' is the one-stop destination which will help you in building a successful off-pitch tech career.
Let's kick off 2023 with the 'NEXT IN' Hackathon 🚀 which is being organized by ICC & NIUM and executed by HACK2SKILL.
INTRODUCTION
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body for cricket which governs and administrates the game and works to grow the spirit of the game. They have always had a long-term ambition for cricket and they look forward to making it the world’s favourite sport both in terms of sportsman spirit and technological advancements.
NIUM is the official fintech infrastructure partner of the ICC and a Modern Money Movement platform which sets the payment infrastructure for the on-demand economy. It's a global platform having an extensive network along with powerful APIs that work together to accelerate business growth – locally and globally.
ICC & NIUM are looking for ground-breaking ways to engage young cricket fans & merge both modern and traditional digital tools to identify solutions for the issues faced by cricket fans.
Now, in a bid to bring more technology-driven ideas to the forefront, Hack2skill is delighted to announce the NEXT IN Hackathon: a unique opportunity for today’s innovators to help reimagine Cricket like never before.
A first for the ICC, “NEXT IN” ask technologists to combine their passion for cricket with their love for innovation. Entries should explore ground-breaking ways to engage younger cricket fans and should merge digital tools to identify solutions to challenges that cricket fans face.
The ICC & NIUM, launched the 'Next IN', a global hackathon for all technologists who love cricket to make them Innovate on the Digital Cricket Fan Experience.
The Hack Event invites participants from all over the world with no constraints on Age; Country or Experience. Love for Cricket & Passion for innovation is the only characteristics required.
It is a hybrid three-phase hackathon consisting of the Registration & Idea Submission Phase, Prototype Development Phase and finally, the Grand Finale, with the first 2 phases being Online and the final demo day(Grand Finale) being conducted in March at Bangalore, India. The teams will be shortlisted and finally invited to build and present their concepts and creations to a panel of prestigious judges at an exclusive event, which will culminate into a high-powered physical finale in Bangalore.
"Innovation for Fans" -- Innovation is paramount to the cricket fan experience, with new platforms and immersive technologies to leverage, such as the Metaverse, WEB3, Fintech and Virtual Reality.
NIUM and the ICC have partnered to launch a Hackathon designed to create an intersection between sports and technology and inspire new ideas for the millions of cricket fans around the world. Open to all, the Hackathon will challenge participants to conceptualize and pitch new and unique fan experiences, resulting in top teams being selected to present their ideas to a panel of judges.
This initiative drives deeper fan engagement and is in line with ICC’s global growth strategy to bring fans closer to the game, it provides a global opportunity for communities of sports and technology innovators to create new and improved fan engagement experiences.
THEMES
Next In will focus on four leading challenge tracks:
1. AR/VR Track🎧
Use AR/VR technologies to create a gamified experience for cricket fans.
In this track, we encourage developers to explore AR/VR Based technology to create a fan engagement activity or game. Ranging from skill building practice based games where fans experience the pace, swing, and spin of their favourite bowlers in virtual reality, to an innovation that educates fans about the game of Cricket, right from the - “History of Cricket”, “Rules of the Game” or even a virtual museum.
2. Fintech Track🪙
Design a loyalty experience for fans with fintech at the centre of it.
The prototype designed by the developers must incentivize fans to interact and transact with ICC content and products such as ICC TV, our NFT program - Crictos, ICC Awards and ICC events at large. This track must include a modern or traditional monetary exchange system between the ICC and its fan base.
3. Stadium Experience Track🏏
Create a Web3-based experience for cricket fans.
The prototype created by developers within this track should aim to strengthen the experience of a fan going to the stadium to watch a match. For example, this could allow the fan to participate in on-ground events on match day and incorporate interactive elements such as a stadium navigation guide, as a result formulating a strategy to track fan movement and behaviour in stadiums and also capturing it on social media. It should give fans an easy and friendly way to share their experience so that others can watch it live or on TV.
4. Blockchain & Web3 Track⛓️
The developers are required to innovate a decentralised platform, that will be the ICC’s foray into the metaverse space. The final prototype should showcase ways in which fans can learn, watch and interact with the sport of cricket.
Hackathon Schedule
1. Launch and Registration Phase 📍
2. Post Registration📑
3. Prototype Development Phase🧩
4. Grand Finale🎯
Meet The <Jury> And <Mentors>
Hackathon Ambassador Dinesh Karthik👨🦰
Dinesh Karthik said: “I am delighted to be a part of the “NEXT IN” Hackathon which will play an important role in cricket continuing to innovate through the participation of fans. As we venture into a new era of internet technology, I anticipate some truly ground-breaking ideas for us to judge.”
Finn Bradshaw said: “The best fan engagement ideas for the future of our sport will come from our passionate fans. The “NEXT IN” Hackathon provides a global showcase for innovation from our technology community. The ICC is proud to continue these tech-led fan engagement initiatives with Nium and we look forward to seeing what digital experiences our fans dream up.”
Hackathon Phases
Phase 1 - Registration & Idea Submission [Online]
Last date to register: 13th February 2023
Deliverables from the candidate
Contextual information and how you’re planning to execute your idea and also the technology stack
In the idea submission phase, the participants need to submit the idea proposition of their chosen track along with the technology stack.
Judging criteria📝
Understanding of the problem statement
Tech-stack used [what tech you are using]
Feasibility & Impact Created
Phase 2 - Prototype Development [Online]
Last date to submit Idea💡: Revealing soon⏱️......
Deliverables from the candidate
- In the prototype development phase, participants need to submit a functional proof of concept showing features built to solve the problem.
Judging criteria (measurable metrics)⚙️:
Code/Scalability [quality of code, demo URL, and documentation]
Design/Wireframe/Blueprints [quality of the prototype]
Overall Usability
Phase 3 - Demo day at Bengaluru(Grand Finale), India [Offline]
The top teams that qualify for the final offline hackathon round at Bengaluru, India, will have their travel expenses (including return trip) and accommodation (for the demo day) covered by ICC.
At the Grand Finale, Participants will be presenting their final working prototype version to a panel of industry experts and professionals who will consist of the hackathon mentors and jury.
Participation Fee: Free🆓
There is no participation fee.
Team Size: 1 to 4 Team Members 👩🏽🤝👩🏿
NEXT IN Hackathon invites teams with participant sizes varying from 1 up to 4 members. Also if you wish to participate in the hackathon in a team, we have a public team feature where you can explore and join the team if you are fulfilling their requirements.
Registration📅
⏳Last Date To Register- MON, FEB 13 2023, UTC
Register Here...
Achievements/Prizes🎉🏆
Cash prizes worth USD 10000 💰
Ticket for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023🎫
Crictos NFTs to top 10 teams👨🏿🤝👨🏼
Exclusive ICC merchandise to top 10 teams✔️
Giveaways - coming soon🎁
Reasons to Participate in 'NEXT IN'✔️
-> As you experience the digital sports world, stand a chance to win exciting prizes and merchandise beyond the grand reward of $10,000 along with a chance to work with ICC in bringing fans closer to the game and enhancing the global cricket experience.
-> It's a first-of-its-kind global hackathon to innovate on the digital cricket fan experience involving immersive and modern technologies like AR/VR, Web3 & Metaverse.
-> We will be flying the best teams from all over the world to Bengaluru where under the guidance of industry leaders, teams will collaborate to build solutions that revolutionize the cricket fan experience.
CONCLUSION
The approach of the participants and the focus of their projects throughout the three-phase hackathon should remain on exploring better avenues and novel portals for not just catering to the existing cricket fans but also facilitating growth in the cricket fan base using the modern-day technologies and platforms such as WEB3 & Blockchain, Metaverse, Fintech and Virtual Reality.
Need Help? 🙋♀️
Join the hackathon channel on the Hack2skill Discord server and ask your queries using #askH2S on Twitter 🔍.
