Black Enterprise Driving Innovation Hackathon - Presented by Toyota

NEW YORK, March 28, 2014 -- BLACK ENTERPRISE will host its first Driving Innovation Hackathon presented by Toyota, where technology and creative minds will come together to build tools that demonstrate the advantages of sustainability. The Driving Innovation program was created by Black Enterprise in partnership with Toyota to shine light on African Americans in tech. The hackathon will take place at Black Enterprise headquarters, 260 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 on March 29th -30th, 2014. Technologists, innovators and coders will form teams to design and develop their solutions.

Select teams will then hack it out to see who can create the best interactive digital game for Toyota. The winner's game will serve as an exciting method of educating users on how to make positive sustainability choices in connection with the Toyota Green Initiative (TGI). This program was created to help the African American community find smart, simple ideas that can make a positive environmental impact in their community. The technology created may be utilized at TGI tour events via tablet, flat screen monitors, and interactive tabletops or online at ToyotaGreen.

Leaders of the technology and innovation communities will judge which team was most successful. The experience of the hackathon will also be livestreamed and available to everyone. The winner of the contest will receive exclusive coverage in Black Enterprise Magazine and featured on BlackEnterprise.

"Black Enterprise is committed to gathering people of diverse backgrounds together to experience the joys and discovery of digital game building with a twist," said Shelly Jones, V.P/Director of Digital at Black Enterprise. "With our wonderful partners at Toyota, we will help you explore ways in which technology can help give life a richer experience while you educate and encourage people to live an environmentally green lifestyle."

Judges

Sumit Gupta, Strategy & Process Transformation Manager at Seimens Healthcare Eric Hamilton, Founder of The Web Academy Malcom Jones, Engineer at Adobe Kyle Wanamaker, Engineer at Tumblr

Schedule of Events (All times listed in EDT)

Saturday March 29th 9am: Kickoff breakfast leads into gaming pitches and team development matching. 12pm-3pm: Lunch, idea pitches and team formation. Pitch ideas and form teams and start coding. 7pm: Dinner 10pm: The fun continues into the final hours of the hackathon. Work with your team to produce the app. Experts will be available throughout the final hours to help you code up your solution. App submissions will be accepted throughout the day with a deadline of 11am.

Sunday March 30th 9am: Breakfast 11am-12pm: Teams will begin pitching their ventures. Pitches are limited to three (3) minutes per team.

Location: Black Enterprise Headquarters – 260 Madison Avenue 11th floor NY, NY 10016

To enter, visit drivinginnovation. Participants are required to bring their own computer. For updates via Twitter and other social media sites, follow the hash tag #drivinginnovation.

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ABOUT BLACK ENTERPRISE

BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source to build Wealth for Life, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 4 million readers with information on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. A multimedia company, BE also produces television programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content, and digital media.