HackerNest is a
not-for-profit organization and
global movement founded on January 11, 2011.
The organization unites local technology communities around the world through community events and socially beneficial
hackathon
A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of hacking and marathon) is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. Th ...
s
to further its mission of economic development through technological proliferation. It is Canada's largest, most prolific technology community
with growing international reach.
Background
HackerNest was founded on the belief that the fastest, most permanent way to improve the world is to build supportive local technology and innovation communities characterized by trust, sharing, and respect.
The rationale is that the technology community is the cornerstone of economic development enabling collaboration, innovation, knowledge-sharing, recruiting, and scientific progress.
Growing and strengthening the community lets businesses hire better, perform better, and create more jobs, which ultimately increases economic prosperity.
The organization's ideology is rooted in the idea that minor tweaks at the start of a process in a dynamic system can have a major impact on the end result. .
HackerNest "splinter cells" (chapters) regularly host "Tech Socials" open to anyone interested in technology. The events vary slightly by city, but maintain the same core tenets: all are friendly and down-to-earth.
The first Tech Social was held in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
on Monday, January 31, 2011. HackerNest Toronto is currently the world's largest
Meetup group for programmers and Canada's largest technologist community.
As of July 2017, HackerNest splinter cells have run over 550+ events in 34 cities across 14 countries on 5 continents.
Activities
In 2014, HackerNest produced Construct, Canada's largest hardware hackathon
and DementiaHack for the
British government
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, date_es ...
, the world's first hackathon dedicated to helping people with dementia and their caregivers.
In 2015, the organization produced
Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
's first internal innovation hackathon as well as DementiaHack
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
as lead sponsor and support from the
UK government
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, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
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, date_es ...
, the
Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Ontario
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
In 2016, HackerNest produced CourtHack with the
National Center for State Courts in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
at t ) and the Hack4Equality> LGBTQ hackathon with
Grindr in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
which heavily featured
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
Promise Zone and Opportunity Project data.
Awards
* Boryana Damnyanova Award for Corporate and Social Responsibility -
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
* Contributions to the technology community -
City of Toronto government
* Finalist - Canadian Global Impact Competition
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://hackernest.com
GOV.UK British High Commission OttawaBetakitHackerNest Toronto Splinter Cell
International non-profit organizations
Social movements in Canada
Technology organizations
Software development events
Hackathons
Non-profit organizations based in Toronto