DevCareer, an African non-profit organization that supports Africans looking to start a tech career, has partnered with Block’s TBD to introduce Web5 to the continent and host the first-ever Web5 Hackathon in Africa.
TBD is a developer platform focused on making the decentralized financial world accessible to everyone
The DevCareer Web5 Hackathon is an opportunity for participants to explore Web 5 technology and decentralized technologies. Web 5 is a decentralized platform that provides a new identity layer for the web, enabling decentralized apps and protocols. This hands-on experience invites developers, designers, technical writers, and tech enthusiasts from across Africa to showcase their skills, network with like-minded individuals, and compete for a prize pool of $30,000.
The Hackathon is scheduled to run for four weeks virtually from Nov 20th – Dec 15th and is divided into three phases:
1. Learning Phase: Participants will engage in an essential webinar led by TBD’s team during the learning phase. The goal is to provide participants with the knowledge necessary for successful participation in the upcoming hackathon and to share resources on building with Web5 technology.
2. Writing Phase: This phase allows participants to document and articulate their solutions. Sharing knowledge and resources gained during the learning phase through public posts and articles.
3. Building Phase: This phase is the ‘Hackathon’ or competition phase, which involves participants working in teams to develop solutions for identified challenges using Web5 and decentralized technologies.
Who is eligible to participate?
Participation is open to everyone, but it must be as part of a team. However, teams should not exceed four members and must include at least one female member.
Participants will work in teams to develop web-based applications that address real-world problems. Additionally, participants will be educated on how to leverage Web5 infrastructure to build products for the next generation of technology users and improve earning potential. With a total prize pool of $30,000, finalists will get the chance to showcase their projects to the hackathon judges.
“The team is thrilled and eager to witness the incredible solutions that will be birthed at the end of the hackathons, considering this is its first introduction on the continent”, said Sultan Akintunde, founder of DevCareer. “We are proud to host and bring the opportunities in Web5 closer to African talent through a platform that fosters innovation and collaboration. We believe that this event will inspire creativity and new ideas that will shape the future of the web.”
Generally, our goal is to inspire participants to build innovative solutions using Web5 technologies and reward innovative work with cash prizes.
Hackathon Criteria
- Participants are open to working collaboratively in a team. Each team member must possess a specific skill set related to design, engineering, or blockchain technology.
- Participants will be required to invest time during the Hackathon period from Nov 20th – Dec 15th (4 weeks).
- Participants are required to register for the hackathon before the deadline on November 20th. The registration process may require participants to provide their personal information, such as name, email address, and phone number, and provide details of each member of their team (teams can be formed during the learning phase).
- Participants can form teams of up to four members, with at least one female. Each team must have a unique name and a team leader.
- Participants are encouraged to actively participate in the writing phase, documenting their project journey or sharing insights gained during the learning and building phases. This documentation can be in the form of articles, or blog posts.
- Participants must use Web5.js to develop their web-based applications. More information on Web5 can be found here. https://developer.tbd.website/docs/
- Participants are required to create innovative solutions that address real-world problems based on the area of focus selected during the application.
- Participants must present their projects to hackathon judges within the given time frame.
- Participants must have access to a laptop with a microphone and camera, as well as reliable internet/Wi-Fi during the project demo.
Participating in the DevCareer Web5 Hackathon is a transformative journey for individuals and teams to explore and apply Web5 technologies, honing their design, engineering, and blockchain skills.
The dedicated Slack community also facilitates networking, creating opportunities to connect with industry experts.
Next Steps
- Join our Slack community to connect and collaborate with like-minded individuals. It’s the perfect space for questions and team formation if you haven’t got one yet!
- Registration for the DevCareer Web5 Hackathon is now open. For more details about the event and to register, check out https://devcareer.io/programs/web5.
About DevCareer
DevCareer is a non-profit organization focused on equipping the next generation of technologists and innovators. At DevCareer, we aim to support underrepresented tech talents venturing into the technology industry to access relevant resources to ease their learning journey. We have executed this by distributing scholarships in partnership with learning platforms, creating an inclusive community through the Laptops4Developers boot camp, and partnering with local and international organizations whose goals align with ours.
We maintain an active community of over 27,000 members, with scholarships granted to more than 4,000 individuals across diverse programs. Through three cohorts of the Laptop4Developers Bootcamp, we’ve trained and provided laptops to 172 interns, many of whom have gone on to work both on-site and remotely for prominent technology companies such as Healthtracka, Flutterwave, Bento, and Plentywaka. For more information, visit https://devcareer.io/, LinkedIn, and X(formerly known as Twitter).
About TBD
As one of four businesses at Block (fka Square), TBD is focused on creating a decentralized future that returns ownership and control over your finances, data, and identity. Guided by this vision, TBD is building an open-source developer platform and infrastructure that enables everyone to access and participate in the global economy.
X (Formerly known as Twitter)
