The Inov4Safe hackathon was organised in La Réunion on 24-25 October 2024.

The event is a cooperation between the regional authority, the Prefecture, and French Tech La Reunion, an organisation promoting a startup ecosystem locally. The idea was initiated by the Prefect, interested in the concept and pursuing two goals:

1. using the innovation competition in conjunction with a public procurement process
2. and creating a learning opportunity for students through a dedicated process.

8 teams of local companies and start-ups competed to be selected for the public procurement, and 3 teams competed on the student side. For the latter, the event was seen as part of their education programme and the main motivations included learning about the domain and testing some ideas in the hackathon process, getting visibility for future employment opportunities and potentially receiving an honorific prize.

In the rest of this text, we will describe mainly the professional competition dedicated to public procurement of an innovative solution.

Images credits: INOV4SAFE Hackathon poster, courtesy of Préfecture de la Réunion

The core event was organised over the course of 28 continuous hours during which participating teams were hosted in the Prefecture and developed concepts and prototypes. However, the organisation of the event started much earlier, with critical preparatory activities taking place months in advance.

Objectives and challenges

The main objective of the innovative solutions was to better involve the population in the prevention, preparation for and management of cyclones in La Réunion. Such weather events threaten or affect the island on a regular basis, the cyclone season stretching roughly from November to April every year in the southwestern part of the Indian Ocean. The last main event, cyclone Belal, occurred in January 2024.

The hackathon therefore represented both an opportunity for improvements based on the recent lessons learned from this event, and a preparation activity for the upcoming season. To reach the general objectives, several main challenges or needs were defined, which participants could target:

• automatising processes;
• better structuring and leveraging data;
• improving coordination of operations;
• strengthening resilience and mutual aid.

Teams had the flexibility to focus on one or more challenges, with the intent being to leverage collective intelligence rather than solve all problems simultaneously.

Selection process and jury composition

The definition of the selection process included identifying and inviting members of a jury. The decision was made to involve a jury of two bodies:

1. a technical committee, which assessed technical quality and implementation feasibility, including the use of public data;
2. a domain committee, in charge of evaluating the usefulness and impact of the propositions in addressing the event’s objectives.

SYNERGIES members Olivier Beauvoir (AGORAH, data expert) and Matthieu Branlat (SINTEF, researcher) participated in the technical committee and the domain committee, respectively. Both committees involved multiple and diverse experts representing local stakeholders (e.g., authorities, first and second responders, weather services, researchers, etc.) and external experts.

Once the main elements were defined, the organisers conducted a campaign to announce the event and conditions for participation. Closer to the event, information sessions were organised for registered teams of participants. In these sessions, local experts provided information about the management of cyclone events or other technical topics (e.g., using geographical datasets).

Images credits: Joëlle Nonet x Prefecture of La Réunion – SGAR

Development of ideas

Within the 28 hours of the hackathon, participating teams developed prototypes, pitches, and documentation to present to the selection jury. These solutions aimed to address a range of complex issues, including:

• Authentication,
• Protection of personal data,
• Accessibility,
• Verification of information and volunteer skills,
• Ethical use of AI,
• Integration into the State information system.

Presentation and evaluation process

At the conclusion of the event, teams participated in a 5-minute pitch session, followed by a 10-minute Q&A with the technical committee, while domain committee members attended as observers.

In the days following the event, jury members reviewed additional documentation and materials submitted by the teams, providing more detailed insights into how the proposed solutions addressed the hackathon’s objectives. The evaluation process included:

• scoring propositions using evaluation grids,
• consensus meetings to determine the winning team, which was ultimately selected by the Prefecture and French Tech based on the jury’s assessments.

Proposed solutions

The eight propositions showcased diverse strategies and solutions, ranging from focused applications to comprehensive systems:

1. Narrow-scope solutions, such as:
   1. An information service to help the population anticipate road closures during cyclones or heavy rains using public road and weather data.
   2. A collaborative app to monitor and exchange information about local store reserves, mitigating last-minute rushes for critical goods (e.g., water, canned food, batteries).
   3. A gamified app aimed at younger audiences, raising awareness, providing guidance, and fostering collaboration to improve cyclone preparedness.
2. Comprehensive solutions designed for a wider range of stakeholders (government, communities, etc.), featuring:
   1. Preparedness checklists,
   2. Public alert mechanisms,
   3. Incident reporting systems to enhance communication between the population and authorities.

Members of Iroko (3 persons on the right) present the winning proposition during the CYCLONEX event, in the presence of authorities, the French Tech and members of the jury. Images credits: Préfecture de La Réunion

Hackathon results announced

The results of the hackathon were made public during CYCLONEX, a major annual preparatory meeting for the cyclone season, held on November 14th. This event, organised by local authorities, gathered hundreds of stakeholders from across La Réunion.

The business prise was won by the digital agency Iroko, which proposed a complete solution integrating mutual aid between the population, information by the Prefecture, and the reporting of geolocated incidents. A “special prize” was awarded to Blue Ramen Studios, a local game developer, which had proposed the gamified education app mentioned above. On the students’ side, results were announced on October 30th during an event organised by French Tech: the Epitech team was selected based on a prototype using AI to analyse the difficulties reported by the population on a local radio and social network widely during events like cyclones.

In the coming months, the authorities of La Réunion will collaborate with the selected team to refine the scope of the project and start the development of the proposed tools. Within project SYNERGIES, the hackathon will be documented as an innovation instrument for solutions to involve the population in disaster management, using the event in La Réunion as a specific case.