Co-op Hackathon 

Promoting digital innovation in the co‑op movement is a major part of our strategy. We want to amplify and increase collaboration around tech – how we develop it, how we share it and how it empowers co‑ops across our movement. 

The Co-op Hackathon takes place on 19-20 October 2023 in London, bringing together tech co‑operators to collaboratively develop digital solutions for the UK co‑op movement and beyond. 

The Hackathon has three parts: 

• 19 October, 6-8pm: Event launch with networking and pitches from a selection of projects

• 20 October, 9am-5pm: Co-op Hackathon  

• 20 October, 6-8pm: Presentation of a selection of projects developed during the day 

The Co‑op Hackathon is being delivered by Co‑operatives UK in partnership with The Co‑operative Bank – supporting fair and ethical business together.

Projects being developed 

We’ve had an amazing response and received some great proposals for a wide range of innovative ideas – from developing open source AI to using tech to tackle poverty and the energy and climate crises. (The submissions process is now closed.) Here’s a selection of the ideas we’ll be working on:

• Oracle Owl – a self-hosted, open-source speaking AI system from Animorph Co-op that allows anyone to speak to an AI owl agent in real time. 
• Community Energy Connect – a volunteering platform connecting skilled individuals to community energy groups, offering tangible action to tackle the climate crisis. 
• Kandoroo – improving the user experience of the Kandoroo platform, which works to empower people in poverty to shop with dignity and respect. 
• Air Register – developing an open-source version of this app, which is used by community benefit societies to manage their community shares registers. 
• Signalise – improving and speeding up this platform, which connects deaf people, interpreters and healthcare providers to deliver sign language interpreting. 
• Roost – a platform for helping groups find, buy and manage co-op homes, now wanting to develop apps designed for living together. 
• LCR Civic Data Co-operative – developing a crowd-sourced system for the management of citizen generated data in the Liverpool city region. 

See the full list of projects to be developed at the Co-op Hackathon in our news story here. 

Ways to get involved 

We’re inviting anyone with a passion for collaborative tech to get involved – you can do this in different ways:

1. Contribute your skills, experience or expertise to a project

Do you have digital skills or expertise you can contribute to developing these inspiring ideas? We particularly welcome developers, data scientists, designers, project managers, etc. Other skills are welcome too! Register to take part as a contributor.

2. Attend the presentations

If you can’t join the full Hackathon, there are two evening events (6-8pm on 19 and 20 October). Here, you’ll meet people involved in the hack and see presentations from some of the teams behind the inspiring projects. Register to attend one or both evening events.

Where is the event taking place?

The Co-op Hackathon will take place on 19 and 20 October at The Foundry, London, SE11 5RR.