Scotiabank Digital Factory to host Debt Challenge hackathon

Scotiabank will be hosting an event called Scotiabank Hack IT: Debt Challenge from February 5-7 in Toronto, a hackathon meant to brainstorm “new ways to help Canadians and manage debt effectively.”
Developers, digital artists and idea generators can register for the initial workshop leading up to the hackathon on January 27 at 6:00 p.m.
The 40-hour workshop will see over 100 participants forming teams and collaborating with financial experts to build tools and present their solutions to fellow participants, guests and judges at the event’s conclusion, the Scotiabank Hack IT: Expo, where the most promising solutions will be competing for a total of $25,000 in prizes, which will be handed out during an awards ceremony.
“Reducing debt continues to be a top priority for Canadians. Scotiabank’s Digital Factory was created to serve as a hub for co-creation and incubation of new ideas,” says Scotiabank Digital Factory head Jeff Marshall. “Take part in the Scotiabank Hack IT challenge and join over 100 top tech minds that will work together and focus their creative energy on developing inventive solutions that will help Canadians manage their debt.”
Judging the event will be Charlottetown native and BNN host Amber Mac, marketing guru Ron Tite, and technical coach and trainer Mike Bowler.
Winning participants will be invited to interview for open positions at the Scotiabank Digital Factory, an innovation hub dedicated to developing customer-driven solutions for digital banking in the age of mobile technology.
When Scotiabank announced announced the opening of its Scotiabank Digital Factory in October, it mentioned that it will be looking to fill 350 positions while aiming for the Factory to be fully operational by mid-2016.
The earliest initiative mentioned when Scotiabank announced the Digital Factory was “Rapid Labs”, a team working on improving the mortgage application process whose solution is being tested by the bank.
The Debt Challenge is timely given that Canadians’ debt-to-income ratio now stands at 164.6%, meaning that Canadians now owe slightly less than $1.65 for each dollar they bring in.