IvyHacks: First Ivy League Hackathon

Welcome to the first-ever IvyHacks, a joint hackathon hosted by 6 Ivy League university hackathons (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton)! For more info, check our website www.ivyhacks.com. Applications close 9/27. Theme and Tracks This year, our theme is breaking barriers, building bridges. Collective action is needed now more than ever, yet society is fractured through physical separation and other means. Social, political, and economic inequalities are widening, in a time where we should be breaking barriers and building bridges. Shine a light on causes that spark your imagination, and create an impactful hack for the post-pandemic world. Together, we can uplift each other in this time of need and grow towards a more connected and supportive future. Submit to 1 of our 4 tracks for a chance to win track-specific prizes! This year, our tracks are social good, healthcare, remote work/education, and envisioning a more technologically connected future. Social Good Social impact has come to the forefront of our lives, and technology’s ability to empower this impact has been unprecedented. From transforming fair and transparent elections to bringing aid to those who need it most in natural disasters, technology has the power to amplify the magnitude of impact anyone is capable of. We can’t wait to see how you will harness this power to transform the world for the better. Healthcare Healthcare, the key to our mental and physical wellbeing, has always been a complex and essential issue but has gained particular pertinence of late amidst this global pandemic. Since time immemorial, technology has empowered us to explore possibilities to improve our quality of life and increase the accessibility of care. This track is for hackers who strive to break new ground in mental and physical health in bringing innovative tech integrations into care. Some aspects to consider: how can one increase the efficiency of the grand governmental healthcare system? How can one ensure equity in the distribution of resources? How can one tackle accessibility to care, mental and/or physical, for populations across different socioeconomic backgrounds? Remote Education/Work Both education and work have gone remote over the past months, and it's very likely that neither of these experiences will be the same in the future. This track is for hacks that are related to how we work, operate, and learn remotely. Hackers might want to think about how we keep people engaged during online classes and meetings, how to mimic the social aspect of being in person at either a workplace or school or about the best way to deliver content and share information remotely. Envisioning a More Technologically Connected Future The pandemic has greatly changed how we communicate and interact with each other. We've been growing toward a more technological future for some time now, where the majority of our social interaction takes place through the screen instead of in real life. Furthermore, our transactions, healthcare, and careers are growing more virtual and more autonomous. This track is for hacks that intend to explore what a less physically connected artificial intelligence future looks like and how we can protect humanity and global unity.