Advertisement
Australia markets open in 7 hours 10 minutes
  • ALL ORDS

    7,898.90
    +37.90 (+0.48%)
     
  • AUD/USD

    0.6430
    -0.0007 (-0.11%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,642.10
    +36.50 (+0.48%)
     
  • OIL

    83.26
    +0.57 (+0.69%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,400.40
    +12.00 (+0.50%)
     
  • Bitcoin AUD

    98,763.46
    +5,428.77 (+5.82%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     

Amazon and Deloitte are backing a space-themed hackathon in Australia and it's coming in September

  • Amazon and Deloitte are backing a new technology innovation hackathon to be held in South Australia in September.

  • The Gravity Challenge hackathon will bring together businesses, universities and entrepreneurs to help solve real world problems using Amazon Web Services and Deloitte data.

  • The hackathon will coincide with Space Week 2019 from 30 September to 4 October.


Global retail giant Amazon and consulting firm Deloitte are backing a world-first technology innovation hackathon to be hosted in Adelaide.

The event, called The Gravity Challenge, will see entrepreneurs, universities, government and businesses design and build solutions to real industrial, social and environmental problems using Amazon Web Services and Deloitte's space data. Amazon Web Services is a cloud platform that offers a range of services such as analytics and cost management tools to startups, businesses and government agencies.

ADVERTISEMENT

Deloitte’s Australian chief strategy & innovation officer Rob Hillard said space solutions can be applied to several industries.

“Industries like defence, mining, insurance and agriculture are facing increasingly difficult problems today. But a lot of companies don’t know that space data and solutions can be applied to almost any industry,” he said in a statement.

“So we’re encouraging businesses to put forward their most pressing issues, and let’s see if Australia’s best innovators can solve them."

The hackathon will coincide with Space Week 2019, which will be held from 30 September to 4 October in Adelaide.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall called the Gravity Challenge a major coup for the state and said it stemmed from discussions with Deloitte during a recent jaunt to Washington DC.

“The Gravity Challenge is an exciting opportunity to engage Australia’s brightest entrepreneurs, researchers and business leaders to work together on challenges across a wide range of industries using advanced satellite data," Marshall said in a statement.

“The Challenge will improve the way we exploit space technology and data to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of key sectors of our economy, including mining, defence, transport, logistics, health, telecommunications, tourism and agriculture.

“Amazon Web Services is a major global company, and the fact that we will play host to an event put on by this global giant shows where our state is heading."

The hackathon adds another notch to South Australia's space sector belt.

Adelaide is the site of the Australian Space Agency headquarters which is tasked with tripling the size of the country's space industry by 2030 and creating 20,000 jobs. In addition, South Australia is home to a number of space technology startups including Fleet Space Technologies and Inovor Technologies.

Forget Mars, it seems Adelaide is fast becoming the hottest destination in the Galaxy.