Start hacking with GovHack NZ

The term ‘hacking’ has always had a bad connotation. If you think of a ‘hacker’, what comes to your mind would be a sinister person who breaks into computer systems—skillfully, maliciously, illegally. However, ‘hacking’ originally meant constructive technical work that might or might be not related to computers at all. The upcoming event, GovHack NZ 2016, promotes the latter meaning of this term.

GovHack NZ is a free event, running simultaneously in different cities in New Zealand over 46 hours from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 July 2016. Over this weekend, people from all walks of life—coders, artists, storytellers, observers, and communicators in the private, public, NGO and academic sectors—get together, work with government data in teams and turn their ideas into their ‘hacks’. The format of a ‘hack’ is not specified but the most common ‘hacks’ are web applications, mobile applications or visualisations. At the end of the event, each team has the opportunity to present their ‘hacks’. And of course, there will be prizes.

The event celebrates technical and creative capacity in New Zealand, connects citizens with the government, and builds on the social and economic value of open data published by the government.

GovHack NZ 2016 is a free event that welcomes all. As long as you possess the eagerness to share your technical skills and creativity, you are welcome at the event.

For more information or to register at an event near you in New Zealand, visit the GovHack NZ website.