LAHORE - A conference titled “Smart City: The Hackathon” kicked here on Friday.

Organised by MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan in collaboration with the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) of the Information Technology University (ITU), the conference focused on Smart City initiatives. Smart cities involve use of technology to increase the operational efficiency, sustainability, economic outlook and quality of life of people living and working in a city.

On the opening day, participants were required to select challenges and work both in their own groups and in random pairs. Day one activities included storytelling and story extraction, persona development and intro to design thinking.

Areej Mehdi, Programme Manager at MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan, said, “Smart City: The Hackathon” is more than a competition. It is a small effort to leverage the inherent smartness of cities. Our collaboration with CIE at Information Technology University is a nod to various exciting smart city initiatives being researched and developed at the university.”

The participants will formally work on their selected ideas on March 10, 2018, based on the concepts learned on day one.

The event will conclude on Sunday (tomorrow).