TORONTO, Oct. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OneEleven and Aviva Canada will host the Safer Neighbourhoods Hackathon on November 23 – 25, 2018 at OneEleven’s office in Toronto (325 Front St. W). The 48-hour event will focus on achieving one goal: developing technology-based solutions to make Canadian neighbourhoods safer and more connected. Developers, insurance professionals, designers, emergency responders, lawyers, and more are encouraged to register for the hackathon individually or as part of a team here: http://bit.ly/SaferHoods
Hackathon partners from across industries, including representatives from Sidewalk Labs, City of Toronto, and ThinkData Works, will provide participants with mentoring, resources, and data sets to help solve three challenges that neighbourhoods face today, including:
| 1) Increasing pedestrian-friendly communities and preventing road related injuries/fatalities; |
| 2) Preventing distracted driving-related accidents; and |
| 3) Increasing house-to-house communication for resource, knowledge, and skill sharing. |
Autonomous vehicles, smart homes, artificial intelligence, and smartphones have made Canadian lives more convenient, connected, and progressive than ever before. However, they have also contributed to some alarming statistics:
- From 2000 to 2008, there were over 6,400 trauma cases in which pedestrians were struck by motor vehicles in Canada.1
- According to the City of Toronto, more than 2,000 pedestrians have been severely injured or killed by motor vehicles since 2005.
- Every 30 minutes, someone is injured in a distracted driving-related accident in Ontario.2
- Driver distraction is now a major contributing factor in about four million car accidents in North America each year.3
“Pedestrian, driver, and neighbourhood safety should be a priority for all Canadians,” says Ryan Spinner, Head of Digital Innovation at Aviva Canada. “That’s why we decided to partner again with OneEleven to host a hackathon focused on Safer Neighbourhoods. With last year’s DisasterTech Hackathon being a great success, our goal is to continue finding technology-based solutions that keep Canadians safe on the road and wherever they live, work and play.”
“At OneEleven, we bring real solutions to scale,” says Siri Agrell, Managing Director, OneEleven Toronto. “We look forward to hosting the Safer Neighbourhoods Hackathon with our partner Aviva Canada and seeing innovative ideas develop into meaningful actions that will improve our city and put technology to use for the greater good.”
Teams will tackle one of three challenges presented at the kick-off on Friday, November 23. They will have 48-hours to brainstorm, develop prototypes and pitch their solutions to a panel of judges. Three winning teams will be selected to win a total of $7,000 in prize money and given the opportunity to leverage Aviva’s network to promote their idea in cities across Canada.
"Smart solutions start with great data,” says Lewis Wynne-Jones, Head of Data Acquisition & Partnerships, ThinkData Works. “ThinkData Works is proud to provide their data management platform Namara as the central hub where hackathon participants can access, collaborate, and integrate with the data that will enable them to develop solutions to the challenges that face the neighbourhoods of today and the connected cities of tomorrow."
For more information about the Safer Neighbourhoods Hackathon, or to register, click here: http://bit.ly/SaferHoods
To schedule an interview with a spokesperson from OneEleven, Aviva Canada, or any of the Safer Neighbourhood Hackathon partners, please contact:
Priscilla Wong
Aviva Canada Inc.
647 208 7523
priscilla.y.wong@aviva.com
Elana Ziluk
OneEleven
416 317 2633
elana@oneeleven.com
About OneEleven
OneEleven is home to a community of high-performing technology scaleups, providing them with unparalleled access to a highly-curated peer network, investment capital, best-in-class partners, on-demand services, and strategic support. Designed to help businesses successfully navigate periods of substantial growth, OneEleven brings everything founders need to their doorstep, saving them time so they can focus on growth. Founded in November 2013 in partnership with OMERS Ventures, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), and Ryerson University, OneEleven has locations in Toronto, Ottawa, and London, England.
For more information visit oneeleven.com, or check out the company’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages.
About Aviva Canada
Aviva Canada is one of the leading property and casualty insurance groups in the country, providing home, automobile, leisure/lifestyle and business insurance to 2.8 million customers. A subsidiary of UK-based Aviva plc, Aviva Canada has more than 4,000 employees focused on creating a bright and sustainable future for our customers and our communities.
Aviva Canada invests in positive change through the Aviva Community Fund, Canada’s longest running online community funding competition. Since its inception in 2009, the Aviva Community Fund has awarded $8.5 million to over 280 charities and community groups nationwide. Aviva Canada, bringing over 300 years of good thinking and insurance solutions to Canadians from coast-to-coast.
For more information, visit aviva.ca or Aviva Canada’s blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
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1 Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
2 Ontario data on collisions (2013) https://www.ontario.ca/page/distracted-driving#section-1
3 RCMP (2014) https://www.caa.ca/distracted-driving/statistics/