Computer Science Department Co-Hosts ‘Chucktown Floods Hack’

The College of Charleston Department of Computer Science (CSatCofC) will co-host a hackathon with the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium and Charleston-based software company BoomTown ROI Aug. 24-26, 2018.

The purpose of the project, called Chucktown Floods Hack, is to develop a web-based framework that reduces barriers to accessing data associated with flooding vulnerability and enhances decision making that results in improved resilience to future flooding events in Charleston County. Once developed, the tool will allow stakeholders (business and industry, municipalities and individual homeowners) to navigate available resources and data centered on flooding in the Charleston County area. Stakeholders can then make informed, proactive decisions in the face of coastal hazards and create a more sustainable and knowledgeable community.

“CSatCofC is proud to partner with the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and BoomTown ROI to organize a hackathon that will produce a prototype web portal that will contribute to hardening the resiliency of our coastal communities against flooding events,” says Marilee Henry, program coordinator for CSatCofC, noting that the product will also provide a data repository for Charleston County as well.

It will also provide a great opportunity for College of Charleston students.

“Student participation in the Chucktown Floods Hack will immerse our students in a real-world software engineering initiative, complete with stakeholders, subject-matter experts and professional developers,” says Anthony Leclerc, associate professor of computer science, whose software engineering students will be participating in the hackathon. “Our students will work closely in small teams to develop a web-based application that integrates disparate technologies and multiple data sources. Students’ creativity will be challenged to design and implement prototype solutions that succinctly synthesize dynamic real-time information into a visually interpretable and response application. This is also a great opportunity for our students to network with working professionals in the industry, some of whom are alumni of the College.”

The event will be held at BoomTown ROI, 1505 King Street Extension, Suite 101, on Friday from 5 p.m. – 11 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., with appetizers included Friday and breakfast, lunch, snacks and beverages provided Saturday and Sunday. Teams of three to five people will work over the three days to develop a winning digital platform aimed at reducing the risks of flooding.

Judging of the final products will be based on ease of use, fitness of purpose, novelty, product road map/planning for the future, a mapping component that will be able to overlay the data onto a map so that users may interact with it, use of vetted data sources in that it is inter-operable with other systems and mobile responsiveness. The winning team will have the right to enter a contract with S.C. Sea Grant Consortium to further develop the prototype.

The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, on behalf of the Charleston Resilience Network, was awarded a contract for this project through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Infrastructure Protection Plan Security and Resilience Challenge. For more information, contact Susan Ferris Hill at the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.