Team AiL wins top prize, ConsenSys’ team gets 2nd place at Irish govt.’s blockchain hackathon

The national flag of Ireland

Team “AiL,” made up of Rosa Devine and Clodagh McCarthy Luddy, won the top prize of €5,000 at the Government of Ireland’s blockchain hackathon, the Blockathon Ireland. The second prize of €2,500 went to “The Builders,” a team submitted by blockchain technology firm ConsenSys.

The two-day event was hosted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, in association with the Department of Finance, and took place in Dublin’s Innovation Academy January 26-27. The hackathon brought together several technical teams with the objective to identify and examine solutions to real problems utilizing blockchain technology.

Team “AiL” won for their proposal around the utilization of blockchain technology to timestamp files submitted to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The tool enabled data to be tracked and recorded across multiple stakeholders in a secure and transparent way, assisting in reducing errors and increasing trust between the CSO and its stakeholders.

“The Builders” secured the second place with their “TravelPort” solution that demonstrated how a decentralized, frictionless toll collection mechanism for vehicles can be achieved.

The third prize of €1,000 went to “Block Pirates” for their medical device tracking solution.

Paschal Donohoe TD, minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, commented on the weekend’s activities, saying in a press release CoinReport received from PR firm Wachsman, “This weekend’s Hackathon has been a truly rewarding and engaging experience for all involved, and underlines our commitment to develop a deeper understanding of how blockchain may be harnessed to improve current processes, citizen user experience, and cross-sectoral efficiency. I would like to sincerely thank each team for their participation. They have all played their part in helping to accelerate the pursuit of Irish blockchain innovation.”

The hackathon pursued several business problems, ranging from medical device tracking in the HSE to verifying CSO data and tracking State Aid for Enterprise Ireland. Each of the nine teams that participated had the task of creating blockchain-based solutions, which were assessed under four strands, namely, Proof of Concept, Relevance, Innovation and Solution. Judges and mentors were selected from diverse fields in order to ensure the winning team achieved the highest standards in the above four categories.

Patrick O’Donovan T.D., minister of state with special responsibility for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment, commented, “The success of this weekend’s Blockathon represents the culmination of extensive preparation, and illustrates the depth of blockchain talent being nurtured on home soil. All the teams here today have displayed an acute ability to harness a complex technology and fine-tune their solution accordingly, impressing our carefully selected judges and mentors. I’m very excited to see the solution progress to the next phase of development.”

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