We’re especially pleased to share that during the MxHacks hackathon at Mendix World, a team from Mansystems team won second prize for an application designed to process refugees faster.
More than 120 hackers competing on 32 teams were challenged to create applications using the Mendix platform during a 24-hour period. Based on suggestions from Mendix and the sponsors, the participants were free to come up with an application themselves.
Overall, five teams from Mansystems participated in the MxHacks hackathon: two teams with students, two teams from the Mansystems Mendix Academy and a team consisting of consultants from Mansystems. After 24 hours of hard work, applications were pitched to a critical jury on the morning of April 16, 2019.
The Mansystems application was specifically recognized for addressing the need to register refugees in a reception camp. The application makes it simpler to gather data about the origin and occupation of a refugee, which makes it easier to assign that refugee tasks that help make the camp more self-sufficient.
A photo of every resident of a refugee camp is available in the application. These photos can be viewed by every refugee. In this way, refugees can easily find out whether friends or family are staying in the same reception camp.
The application makes use of face recognition software accessed as a service running on the Microsoft Azure cloud to confirm the identities of refugees every time they log onto the application. It also makes use of the Google Web Speech API service to automatically convert spoken words into text. In the Technology Challenges category of the hackathon, Mansystems won first prize for its work Web Speech API from Google.
Just as importantly, the application developed by the Mansystems teams can also continue to play a constructive role even after the refugee has been admitted by a host country. Via the application, it becomes possible to identify the skills a refugee has, which then allows potential employers to offer that refugee a job in their original profession.
Mansystems CEO Arnold Zwart notes his application is yet another example of the type of collaboration that is core the company’s culture.
“The good result on MxHacks comes from good collaboration, knowledge sharing and giving each other feedback during the development process,” says Zwart. “With the same dedication as the winning team, we make the best applications for our customers every day at Mansystems.”
Population migration has become a global economic and political crisis. Mansystems would be excited to work with any non-profit or government entity to help ensure refugees are treated as humanely as possible while simultaneously helping to ensure the security of any country’s border.