Industry gears up for Random Hacks of Kindness

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are lending support to a 'benevolent hackathon'

Some of the IT industry's biggest names are lending their support to Random Hacks of Kindness, a weekend of hard coding at which volunteer engineers seek to solve real world problems.

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Nasa and The World Bank are founding partners in the event, which this year takes place from 4 to 6 June.

The "hackathon" will kick off in Washington DC, alongside global satellite events in Jakarta, Sydney, Nairobi and Sao Paolo. A special two-day workshop will be held at Microsoft's offices in Maryland.

"We start with problem definitions created through consultations with non-governmental organisations, governments and experts in the field from around the world," said Google in a blog post.

"Then we invite hackers to put their skills to use to solve those problems with software solutions that make a difference on the ground.

"New technologies are born, existing platforms are built upon, and innovative new ideas attract attention and support. At the close of the 'hackathon', teams present the technologies they have developed and prizes are awarded."

The event started last year with a Crisis Camp held in Washington DC, at which Google, Microsoft and Yahoo pledged their support.

The organisers are hoping to draw in expertise from around the world, including professional programmers and students looking to get more coding experience.

"Benevolently inclined hackers will listen to a keynote speech presenting the challenges we are facing. Then they will churn out some of the most important open source code on the planet - code that saves lives and mitigates human suffering," they said.