Hackathon 2024

 
 

Participate in the THIRD Valais Wallis Time Machine hackathon!

Are you a genealogist, 3D graphic designer, illustrator, developer, historian, data scientist, data analyst, statistician, or simply passionate about hackathons? Do you want to contribute to an event that brings the latest technological innovations to the dynamic world of cultural heritage?

The Valais Wallis Time Machine (VWTM) association is organizing an interdisciplinary hackathon from November 2 to 3, 2024, at the Espace Saint-Marc (Le Châble) on the theme: Who’s your father/mother? Genealogies and Censuses: Exploring Valaisan Roots.

Join us for two days of innovation, collaboration, and discovery!

Objective

To foster innovation and collaboration around Valaisan genealogical and census data. The aim is to use and connect various databases and research tools to create prototypes of innovative products.

Challenges

1.Merging family trees

Merging family trees is one of today's greatest challenges for genealogists. Although some software programs are already able to identify and remove duplicates, there is as yet no automated approach that is sufficiently reliable to achieve this. An exciting technical challenge!

2. Hérémence: Creating links between genealogy and built heritage

Family history is also part of the territory. How can genealogical data be combined, visualized and enhanced with geographical data? Test your approach with data from the village of Hérémence.

3. Free challenge: unleash your creativity!

Participants can propose their own challenge to be carried out during the hackathon, using data provided by the organizers. The only criterion: explore genealogical data in an innovative way, test new avenues, develop an attractive prototype and enrich the Valais Wallis Time Machine projects in this way.

Teams

Register individually or in teams; teams will be formed on the first day of the hackathon.

Prizes

The winning teams will share a prize money of CHF 5,000.-

Practical Information

Meals are provided by the organizers, and dormitory accommodation is available on request. Easy access, just a few minutes from Le Châble train station.

Registration

  • Saturday

    08:00 - Welcome participants

    08h30 - Coffee, breakfast and welcome

    09h00 - Icebraker

    09:15 - Hacking

    12h00-13h15 - Lunch

    13h30-14h30 - Guided tour of the Bagnes Museum

    15h00 - Hacking

    19h00-20h00 Evening meal

    20h00-... Hacking

    Sunday

    08h00 - Breakfast

    09h00 - Hacking

    11h30 - Workshop pitch

    12h00 - Lunch

    13h30 - Hacking

    16h30 - Final presentations

    17h30 - Closing session - announcement of results by the jury

    6:00 pm - Aperitif / End

    19h00 Tidying up

  • 1.Merging family trees

    Merging family trees is one of today's greatest challenges for genealogists. Although some software programs can already identify and remove duplicates, they often prove insufficient.

    The Association Valaisanne de Généalogie (AVEG) invites participants to take up this challenge by creating a prototype capable of merging several family trees, while preserving the integrity of relationships between ascendants, descendants and collaterals.

    The challenge is to correctly associate individuals, taking into account their names, dates, places and, above all, family ties, to guarantee a match with a high level of confidence. This requires going beyond traditional methods and exploring innovative approaches, such as artificial intelligence, relational graphs or advanced matching algorithms.

    2.Hérémence: Creating links between genealogy and built heritage

    Family history is also part of the land. Hervé Mayoraz, a geomatician with a passion for history and genealogy, has spent over 25 years patiently collecting data on the origins of the inhabitants of the Val d'Hérens, and compiling a historical inventory of the buildings in the village of Hérémence.

    How to visualize and enhance this data?

    For this creative challenge, you'll be given an inventory of the buildings in the commune of Hérémence, with cadastral numbers and the names of the inhabitants at various times, an extract from its genealogical database, and the register of emigrants from the commune of Hérémence.

    3.Your free challenge: unleash your creativity

    Participants can propose their own challenge to be carried out during the hackathon, using data provided by the organizers. The only criterion: explore genealogical data in an innovative way, test new avenues, develop an attractive prototype and enrich the Valais Wallis Time Machine projects in this way.

    Here are just a few of the ideas we came up with in the run-up to the hackathon:

    • Link genealogical and census data with other databases and media (images, press articles, etc.) to create comprehensive visualizations of Valais family history.

    • Create interactive prototypes based on genealogical data, such as dynamic family trees or migration maps.

    • Develop platforms where the community can validate, enrich and correct existing genealogical data.

    • Resources and Data

      Resources and data will be provided to the teams in due time.

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