UCT wins Discovery GradHack

The Department of Information Systems students recently participated in the Discovery Graduate Hackathon, an event for Information Technology (IT) students studying in South Africa. Participating students worked on solving real challenges using the latest in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic process automation (RPA), Blockchain, Augmented reality (AR), and location-based services. Two of the top three teams were comprised of UCT students.

Team Cookout  comprised of team members Jordy Kafwe (Computer Science Hons), Ben Cleveland (Computer Science Hons), Yohannes Gebremeskel Libelo (Information Systems Hons), and Maesela Katlego Sekoele (Information Systems Hons) clinched a victory in the Gradhack with their app, SafeRoute. This app provides safe, data-driven navigation for South Africans by leveraging historical crime data and crowd-sourced incident information. SafeRoute aims to be a safer alternative to apps such as Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze, offering real-time updates and route suggestions that prioritise user safety.

Team Silicon Slippers, comprised of students Michael Gamsu, Boitumelo Mokoka, and Ryan Murphy, all Computer Science honours students, placed in the top three with their solution. They created an AI-powered personalised financial navigator to assist clients' financial habits and maximise Discovery Bank benefits.