The City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce have partnered with local businesses to create a series of events titled Hack the Beach: The Contest. Hack the Beach: The Contest aims to bring together local technologists to build solutions addressing sense of community, citizen engagement, and mobility in Santa Monica.
Much more than a hackathon, Hack the Beach: The Contest is a series of events, spanning from October 2015 to January 2016, allowing members of the public to submit proposals for apps, software, technology, processes, and/or tools to help Santa Monica improve in strategically significant areas.
Hack the Beach: The Contest is open to any Santa Monica resident. A kickoff event will be held at General Assembly on October 6 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Detailed applications will begin to be accepted on October 9, coinciding with another Hack the Beach event hosted at Expert Dojo from 10:00am to 1:00pm, during which interested parties may interact with judges and city officials in order to gain a deeper understanding of the strategic initiatives, learn more about the contest, and/or have questions answered about the application process.
Chief Information Officer Jory Wolf explains, “We have long been proponents of building public/private partnerships. The City is fortunate to have many resources at our disposal, but we can do even more to serve the public by partnering with our incredible local talent pool.”
More information about Hack the Beach: The Contest, including the ability to submit preliminary applications of interest and sign up to attend one of the upcoming events may be found at hackthebeach.com.
Hack the Beach is a collaborative effort between the City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, and the following partners from the local technology and business sectors: Cross Campus, Downtown Santa Monica, Expert DOJO, General Assembly, Santa Monica Pier, and WeWork.