The global economy is changing. The pace of technological change and the unprecedented availability of mass amounts of data is creating new opportunities while making older business practices obsolete.

As a digital economy, Canada's long-term economic competitiveness depends on how well we are able to integrate into and drive this global rising of the digital knowledge economy. One of the ways in which this can be achieved is by making previously privately-held government data available to the public and incentivizing Canadians to do their part to unlock its full value.

“Open data is an important part of Digital Canada 150, which is our Government’s plan to ensure Canada excels in the digital age. CODE 2015 will showcase Canadian talent in the use of open data, and exemplify Canada as a leader in the global digital economy.”
- James Moore, Minister of Industry and CODE facilitator

CODE 2014, Canada’s first nationwide open data hackathon supported by the federal government, was a huge success in supporting this goal. In February 2014, 900 participants worked 48 hours to develop apps utilizing open data available on Canada’s Open Government Portal to take home their share of the $30,000 offered in prizes. More than 100 apps were submitted ranging from helping new immigrants find places to live, to choosing cars, to managing farming. The apps were as varied as the choice of federal datasets participants had to choose from.

“Technology competitions are changing how companies innovate around the globe. By engaging a dynamic population of volunteer technologists to develop software applications and pioneering Open Data solutions that approach persistent problems in innovative ways, prize driven competitions offer an opportunity to achieve innovation oriented goals with limited resources.”
- Ray Sharma, Founder and Chairman, XMG Studio Inc.

What CODE 2014 showed was that if useful open data like real-time transportation data is released publicly in an accessible manner, then developers and entrepreneurs will step up to create apps.

Now established as an innovation engine to ‘hacktivate’ open data for years to come, CODE is set up to grow and adapt to meet the needs of the changing economy and government and to match the interests of Canadians.

“We’re aiming to make this year bigger and better. The ultimate goal of CODE is to leverage technology to engage citizens, showcase their ideas, and inspire Canadians to use government open data to drive innovation and economic growth.”
- Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board and CODE facilitator

A number of changes will be introduced in this year alone. One of these being that CODE 2015 seeks to uncover innovations using open data to address critical issues and spur innovation in three specific categories: Youth, Commerce and Quality of Life. For each of these categories a theme will be announced minutes before the hackathon starts to ensure a level playing field for participants.

CODE 2015 also boasts an increased number of VIP HUBs, expanding from the single VIP HUB in Toronto in 2014 to a total of three – one in Montreal, one in Vancouver and one in Toronto – with each 100 selected participants. Participants will also be able to take part in CODE from Partner HUBs in various locations as well as participating online from their homes, schools, or local coffee shops. This makes CODE 2015 a truly nationwide event.

Another highlight is that this year participants are strongly encouraged to mash-up federal datasets with those from other levels of government. This will help unleash the full potential of open data as it allows participants to create solutions for challenges in a way that’s not expected and see information from different angles. Participants can weave their own stories based on a good idea and several data sources. This further frees information and can expand the public’s comprehension of what is happening in their city, province and country.

To encourage all Canadians to take part in CODE – regardless of digital prowess – a matchmaking tool has been developed and is available on the CODE website. It was built to help participants find the right team members to complement their own skills and effectively enables everyone to take an idea from concept to completion. Mobile & web developers, programmers and data scientists can now easily find digital artists, UI/UX designers as well as business graduates, project managers and others via title, skill or keyword search using our matchmaking tool.

CODE 2015 is setting out to galvanize developers and entrepreneurs to develop apps that will provide value for citizens and drive economic growth. The fact that this is not an unrealistic goal at all is proven by the fact that two startups have been founded or acquired to date based on their work developed during CODE 2014:

• The 2014 Grand Champion team Electric Sheep went on to publish their submission and is currently working on a re-brand an re-launch of the original concept with expanded services around immigration: Imminy
• The top 15 team Farmspot’s startup was acquired by Invoke Labs in BC

“The Government‘s commitment to unleashing the potential of open data and helping to drive innovation represents a unique opportunity for Canadian entrepreneurs.”
- Robert Herjavec, CODE 2014 judge and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank”

We’re in the midst of a data-driven revolution and we are calling on you to take on the opportunities it brings for all Canadians and for the betterment of all living in Canada. Participate in CODE 2015. Hacktivate open data and help accelerate innovation. Register today.