Award winning South African hacker Tony Mwebaze, lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), believes entrepreneurs are an asset to hackathon teams in the creation of effective tech solutions.
Mbewaze gave a lecture on “How to win a hackathon” in the BlackBerry lab in Woodstock, on Thursday night.
Following a series of wins at local and global hackathons, Mwebaze felt he wanted to impart his knowledge on having the edge as a hacker to stand out among other solutions.
Although a developer and the designer form the base of a hacking team, an engineer or an entrepreneur are valuable additions, he believes.
He advised: “If you have the choice to pick your team, find a developer, find a designer and find someone who is just a typical entrepreneur who just thinks of ideas and who thinks of everything is wow and everything is possible.”
Mwebaze defeated the idea of hacking as solely connected to criminal activity, describing how it provides solutions with technology.
“A hackathon is an event or a completion where programmers or developers come together and they collaboratively build systems within a small space of time based on the skills [with which] they come up with solutions,” the expert hacker said.
Listing the benefits, he feels networking, the growth in entrepreneurial skills and an opportunity to achieve credible solutions are some of the reasons for attending hackathons.
“There is a certain way of thinking where you think and you think productively,” he said.
The tech expert also recommends building relationships in the industry with experienced role players, which can potentially lead to business opportunities.
“There is something very valuable when you talk to people with experience and you talk to them for free,” he explained.
He pointed to the understanding of the problem from both the participant and the judge’s perspectives with the verification of the problem as well as the solution.
Presentation was referred to as a very important factor to provide clear communication because people with technical knowledge often find it challenging to explain to the “layman”.
“Not everyone is a geek. They don’t understand you,” he said.
