MERITS hosts first ‘HACKTHECLIMATE’ Hackathon
Gathering of entrepreneurs, designers and developers
12-hours of idea generation, invention and business creation
Supporting delivery of 2025 Climate Action Targets
Kildare County Council and MERITS Tech Hub in Naas hosted over 50 entrepreneurs on Friday 23rd of February for a first ‘HACKTHECLIMATE’ Hackathon.
A Hackathon is an event where entrepreneurs, designers and developers come together for a fast paced 12 hours of idea generation, invention and business creation.
Entrepreneurs came from across Kildare, Carlow and Dublin, including students from Maynooth University & Trinity College joining forces to create potential solutions to some of Kildare’s most pressing climate issues, with the aim of helping Kildare County Council to reach 2025 climate action targets.
The day began with a number of inspirational and informative speakers, framing the problems Ireland and more locally, Kildare will face if we cannot reach our climate goals. Professor Peter Thorn from Maynooth University spoke about temperatures and rainfall on the Curragh. Alan Murphy, Regional lead at Smart Dublin told the teams about innovative solutions already in place in our capita, and Professor Brian Caulfield of Trinity College emphasised the need for reductions in traffic and carbon emissions.
Paula O Rourke, Climate Action Co-ordinator with Kildare County Council spoke about the Decarbonised Zone in Maynooth, Kildare’s ‘test bed’ for the newest technology and climate positive ideas, emphasising how we need to hit our targets and the areas of the Climate Action Plan that need most urgent attention.
Kildare County Council’s Innovation Team and Kildare Local Enterprise office were on hand throughout the day to guide the teams as well as a panel of 10 Climate, Innovation and Technology specific mentors who helped participants focus on their new ideas.
Lauren O’Reilly, Programme Manager in MERITS said “there was so much energy, we had people arriving in MERITS from 7am, helping each other create these brand new ideas!”
The day produced some outstanding, cutting edge ideas, including apps for social good, hardware that accurately tracks energy consumption in your home and an innovative way to encourage the planting of native Irish trees.
The winning idea on the day was a team of four entrepreneurs from Kildare. Team lead Ben Foran explains the idea “Proactive Paths’ utilises AI to revolutionise route planning. The algorithm is able to anticipate irregular disruptions such as future road works, protests or public events. By forecasting and navigating around potential delays ahead of time, it significantly improves efficiency, lowering costs for businesses while also taking congestion off our roads.”
The winning team will now go on to develop their business further with the help of Kildare Local Enterprise Office, MERITS and Kildare County Council’s Climate Action Team.
