| GovHack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Hackathon |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Locations | Australia,New Zealand, and InternationalVirtual event |
| Years active | 16 |
| Inaugurated | 2009 |
| Attendance | >15,000 total |
| Website | http://www.govhack.org |
GovHack is a significant annualopen government andopen datahackathon, attracting over 15,000 participants since 2009. First run as a smallCanberra-based event, it quickly expanded to an international competition with simultaneous events taking place in major cities acrossAustralia andNew Zealand each year, with virtual events for remote and international participants. Since its inception, over 2,500 projects have been published by participants to demonstrate the practical value of open data.[1]
The competition requires small teams of competitors to produce a project using open data within 46 hours, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. The format of the project is unspecified, butweb applications,mobile apps, andvisualisations are common, with games and art also being encouraged.
Although competitors may use any available open data, certain prize categories mandate the use of certaindatasets, such as "Best Geoscience Award" or "Best Use of Taxation Statistics Award". Typically, participating sponsors and government departments release new datasets for the competition each year.[2]
Each team must produce evidence of work, such as source code, and are judged on a three-minute video they must produce about their project. Teams are required to publish their projects using anopen license.
GovHack was first run at theAustralian National University in 2009,[3] funded by the Australian "Gov 2.0 Taskforce".[4]
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In 2012, GovHack became an annual event and was run in two locations.[5] During the early years of the competition, the Australian chapter of theOpen Knowledge Foundation assisted with the operation of the event, withPia Andrews as head of the national GovHack operations team.
From 2013 to 2017 GovHack rapidly expanded to become an international competition run throughout Australia and New Zealand, with virtual events for remote and international participants.
2014 marked the first annual GovHack Red Carpet Awards to celebrate the winners, sponsors, and volunteers of GovHack, taking place atBrisbane City Hall.
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, GovHack was run entirely virtually. As a result, participation dropped significantly from 1500 participants in 2019, to less than half of that for the following years.[6]
| Year | Date | Participants | Projects | Prize money | Events | Red Carpet Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6–8 September | 590 | 187 | [?] | 27 | [data missing] | [7][8] |
| 2023 | 18–20 August | 672 | 191 | A$70,000 | 26 | 19 November -University of the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Australia | [9][10][7] |
| 2022 | 19–21 August | 521 | 147 | A$61,000 | 27 | 29 October -Infosys Living Labs, Melbourne, Australia | [11][12][6][13] |
| 2021 | 20–22 August | 523 | 155 | A$83,000 | 24 | 21 October - Digital livestream due to COVID-19 pandemic | [14][15][16][17] |
| 2020 | 14–16 August | 691 | 158 | [?] | 18 | 14-26 October - Via social media due to COVID-19 pandemic | [18][19][20] |
| 2019 | 6–8 September | 1500 | 259 | [?] | 38 | 9 November -National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia | [21][22][23] |
| 2018 | 7–9 September | 2000 | 243 | [?] | 37 | 10 November -Australian Technology Park, Sydney, Australia | [24][25][26] |
| 2017 | 28–30 July | 2300 | 379 | [?] | 36 | 14 October -Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane, Australia | [27] |
| 2016 | 29–31 July | 3000 | 480 | A$300,000 | 40 | 22 October -State Library of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia | [28][29][30] |
| 2015 | 3–5 July | 2200 | 270 | A$120,000 | 31 | 5 September -Power House Museum, Sydney, Australia | [28][31][32] |
| 2014 | 11–13 July | 1300 | 170 | A$70,000 | 13 | 10 August -Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane, Australia | [33][34][35][36] |
| 2013 | 31 May – 2 June | 900 | 108 | A$170,000 | 8 | (No Red Carpet Awards this year) | [37][34] |
| 2012 | 1–3 June | 140 | 40 | A$40,000 | 2 | (No Red Carpet Awards this year) | [5][38][34] |
| 2009 | 30–31 October | 150 | 20 | [?] | 1 | (No Red Carpet Awards this year) | [39][34] |
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