EoT European Smart Cities Ideathon Thessaloniki 2018

Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th of March 2018 | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki (Greece, Europe)

Europe on Track 5 – European Conference 2018 – Smart Cities: Can You Hear the ECO?

The Europe’s first-ever ideathon on smart cities in the framework of the third edition of the world’s first-ever global transport hackathon series

Guidelines: https://www.y4pt.org/projects/hackathon/seasons/s3/continental/europe/guidelines/

What is the Europe on Track series?

Europe on Track is a project in which 9 ambassadors, divided into 3 teams of 3 (1 videographer, 1 photographer and 1 interviewer) go around Europe with an Interrail ticket to inform, educate and interview young people about their thoughts about a specific topic that is relevant to the European youth. The aim of the project is to get to know how young people see the present and the future of Europe and to create a space for discussion about the most important topics. The first edition of the project was launched in 2013 to capture young people’s vision and wishes for Europe in 2020. In the same year Europe on Track won the Charlemagne Youth Prize which is awarded annually to projects that foster a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.

The Ambassadors of Europe on Track stay for around 2-3 days in each city to deliver workshops at universities and high schools, meet local people, interview them and find out their concerns and ideas regarding the topic discussed. Each team has a different route which include cities where you can find AEGEE local groups, for example Budapest, Athens, Istanbul, Moskva or Prague. There are 3 people in each team – a journalist, a photographer and a videomaker, each of them has a specific role during the trip. They share their experiences through articles, photo albums, videos and everyday updates in social media channels. The Ambassadors are selected after the open call that is shared on our communication channels in November.

Europe on Track is a project of AEGEE-Europe, the largest interdisciplinary, borderless students’ organization in Europe.It strives for a democratic, diverse and borderless Europe. As a non-governmental, politically independent, and non-profit organisation AEGEE is open to students and young people from all faculties and disciplines. Founded in 1985 in Paris, today AEGEE has grown to a Network of 13000 friends, present in 200 cities in 40 countries all over Europe. Through our activities, we empower students and young people in Europe to take an active role in society. We create a space for dialogue and learning opportunities as well as act as their representative towards decision-makers. AEGEE strengthens mutual understanding among young Europeans and brings Europe closer to young people.

Europe on Track 5

#WHAT Conference about Smart Cities and Sustainability
#WHEN 15-18th March 2018
#WHERE Thessaloniki
#SCHEDULE https://www.europeontrack.org/schedule-of-the-conference/
#FEE 50-55€ with all meals, activities and hostel included (transportation from your home to Thessaloniki NOT included)
#APPLYHERE https://bit.ly/EoThessa
#Deadline 18th February 23:59h CET

Do you like thematic events? Are you looking forward a high-profile conference this spring? Are you interested in environmental issues, sustainability and generally want to learn more about making our future better?

Europe on Track and AEGEE-Thessaloniki have the solution! We are kicking off the awesome 5th edition of the European Charlemagne Youth Award wining project with an epic conference this spring in the beautiful city of Thessaloniki in Greece. The former European youth capital will welcome 100 participants and experts to help you learn and discuss in an inspiring 4-day conference.

The 4 day event will include:
🌍 Sessions and workshops regarding environment, sustainability and the innovative concept of Smart Cities
🧠 High-profile speakers and experienced trainers from Thessaloniki and all over Europe
🛏 Accommodation in hostels
🚦 A Hackathon related to Smart Cities (in partnership with Youth For Public Transport (Y4PT)) – a challenging day where we will, in groups, look together for out-of-the-box solution to a real problem and present the projects by the end of the day. The winner will get tickets to Stockholm for the final hackathon of Y4PT this year.
✌ 100 enthusiastic young people
🎉 Social program
💙 Lots of AEGEE spirit!
Are you ready to meet us in Thessaloniki this spring and kick off together the 5th edition of Europe on Track?
Then make sure to apply!

If you have any questions, email us at hello@europeontrack.org. Facebook event: https://fb.com/events/153337941972472/

What is the Y4PT Transport Hackathon series?

After the success of the first two editions of Y4PT Global Transport Hackathon series in Montreal 2017 and Dubai 2018, the Youth For Public Transport (Y4PT) Foundation, with the support of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), its members and other stakeholders, and following the long-standing tradition of Y4PT Youth Lab series, is promoting the organization of local transport hackathons around the world during the 2018-2019 season, by combining the best of boundless human creativity and the benefits of current information and communications technologies (ICTs) in collaborative environments, with the aim of advancing transport sector towards sustainability.

Winners from each local transport hackathon will join other Sweden-based hackers at the 3rd Y4PT Global Transport Hackathon Stockholm 2019 (https://www.y4pt.org/projects/hackathon) in the framework of the 63rd UITP Global Public Transport Summit Stockholm 2019 – the world’s oldest, largest and leading sustainable transport event – to contest in a final round for unveiling the world’s best ground-breaking transport solutions.

Many cities around the world are hosting the first local transport hackathons. Other cities are also welcome to join.

Different local stakeholders such as universities, youth groups, ICT companies, transport operators, authorities, start-up mentors and hackers are called to collaborate with Y4PT and to be part of the next edition of the world’s first ever global transport hackathon.

Everyone is invited to get on board. This is an one-off opportunity to show to your audience and users how important is for you to support this kind of events where innovation and creativity is putting forward new ICT-related solutions to boost both the private sector business performance and the public sector policy efficacy, and thus to unlock new opportunities to expand, diversify and renew your organization’s portfolio of products and services.

What is a Ideathon?

An Ideathon is an event, typically lasting several days, where a number of skilled people meet to engage in prototyping, with the aim of ingeniously solving specific issues in a collaborative and cooperative environment. Ideathon outcomes usually lead to the inception of startup projects and trigger other innovation processes in different fields such as the transport sector, among others.

Overview

Most of the cities are going through a gradually-increasing integration with the outer world that has meant new and disruptive socio-economic conditions which market and its players are yet striving to adapt well. For instance immigration, climate change and security are three core pending issues on both the local and global agendas.

Furthermore, emerging concepts such as sharing economy are not anymore a matter of the future. They are already here, being present now among all of us somehow. And they are fostering a fast change at all levels in different sectors, forcing all existing approaches to be re-thought.

For instance, the transport field has lately served as the right testing ground for new technological developments and results have been later replicated in other sectors.

In the light of the above, several stakeholders, such as AEGEE, Y4PT, InterRail and Intrepid – Urban Adventures have joined forces to organize the Europe’s first-ever ideathon on Smart Cities, an open and collaborative space where people are called to contribute to solving major urban challenges in an ingenious way.

Smart Cities Challenges

All Ideathon projects should be in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/).

A wide range of current and critical challenges faced by European cities will be addressed during the Ideathon, based on the sessions of the Conference (https://www.europeontrack.org/schedule-of-the-conference/):

Smat Cities and Sustainability – Climate Change
Smart Cities and Education
Smart Cities and Environmental Justice
Smart Governance
Smart Economy
Smart Mobility
Smart Cities: Connectivity and Numerization

Participant’s Profile and Teaming-Up

The Ideathon is an event open to the general public (people over 18 only).

Participants must demonstrate knowledge and/or experience in the Smart Cities field, as well as being capable to play roles such as:

Graphic designers
Project managers (business development)
Marketers / Communicators

Each team will be made of up to four (4) members, ideally corresponding to each of the profiles above mentioned.
Participants are free to choose if they want to run a project individually, or on the contrary, they want to teamed up with others.

English language must be the working language during the Ideathon.

Registration

Any person who is willing to participate must fill out the online registration form in advance (https://www.europeontrack.org/conference/).

Those participants who initially registered individually but would like to set up a team, on the day of the Ideathon they can meet other participants in the same situation.

Participants must bring a valid official photo ID to enter to the Ideathon venue.

What should participants bring to the Ideathon?

The Ideathon venue will be provided with High-speed Internet access, tables, chairs, electric sockets, audiovisual equipment and other basic resources.

It is up to hackers to bring whatever they might need to develop their projects on-site.

Checklist might include the following tools:

Laptops and peripherals
Smartphone
Tablet
Smartwatch
Multi-socket extension
Ethernet Cables
Portable network switch
Portable router
Desktop Software
Digital camera
Video recording camera
Portable storage devices (e.g. USB flash memory)
Set of databases

Prize

Thanks to the generosity of the Main Benefactors of Y4PT Foundation, RTA Dubai (https://rta.ae/) and FNM Milan (https://www.fnmgroup.it/it/), one (1) representative of the winning project will have the one-off opportunity to travel to Stockholm (Sweden, Europe), to participate in the 3rd Y4PT Global Transport Hackathon Stockholm 2019 (https://www.uitp.org/events/3rd-y4pt-global-transport-hackathon-stockholm-2019).

The prize includes, strictly:

One (1) air ticket, economy class, round trip, (City)-Stockholm-(City)
Budget shared accomodation
Participation in the 3rd Y4PT Global Transport Hackathon Stockholm 2019 (https://uitpsummit.org/)
Full access to the 63th UITP Global Public Transport Summit Stockholm 2019, to participate in the 3rd Y4PT Global Transport StartUp Fair Stockholm 2019

Judging Criteria and Jury Panel

The winning project will be chosen by a select jury panel with extensive experience and knowledge in Smart Cities subjects.

Each submitted Ideathon project must be brand-new, unpublished (not having been showcased at past events) and in its entirety as well as each component, must be comprised of the team’s original work (third parties’ intellectual property must be properly credited according to the legal terms of these parties’ works).

Ideathon projects must clearly include an approximation of at least:

Graphic interface
Business model

Program – Date and Time

The Ideathon will take place on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th of March 2018.

Day 1: Saturday 17th of March 2018

08:30 am: Registration of Participants, Mentors, Judges, Volunteers and VIP Guests.
09:00 am: Message from Organizers and Partners
09:10 am: Smart Cities Conference Wrap-Up
09:30 am: Teaming-Up
10:00 am: Start of the Ideathon – Developing
01:00 pm: Lunch
02:00 pm: Resuming Ideathon – Developing
07:00 pm: Dinner
08:00 pm: Resuming Ideathon – Developing
10:00 pm: End of the day

Day 2: Sunday 18th of March 2018

08:30 am: Registration of Participants, Mentors, Judges, Volunteers and VIP Guests.
09:00 am: Message from Organizers and Partners
09:10 am: Pitch
10:40 am: Jury Panel Deliberation
11:00 am: Awarding
11:30 am: End of the Ideathon

Venue

The Ideathon will be held at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Thessaloniki (Greece, Europe).

Organizers

The Ideathon brings together the major European actors such as:

European Students’ Forum (AEGEE-Europe) (https://www.aegee.org/): It is the largest trans-national, interdisciplinary student organisation in Europe.
International Association of Public Transport (UITP) (https://www.uitp.org/): With over 132 years of history, UITP is the only spokesperson for the public transport sector worldwide, representing the interests of all stakeholders, including authorities, operators, supply industry, and academic-research centers.
Youth For Public Transport (Y4PT) Foundation (https://www.y4pt.org/): Established more than 12 years ago by the UITP, Y4PT is the leading global youth network on sustainable transport.