NASA, IBM Team Up To Hold 'Space App' Hackathon

By Kamal Nayan - 07 Apr '15 14:18PM

NASA is teaming up with IBM to hold Space App Challenge Virtual Event where participants will develop apps that aid space exploration and solve global challenges.

The NASA Space Apps Challenge is an international three-day code-a-thon where developers, students, scientists and educators gather to build applications, hardware and platforms that solve problems.

Reportedly, this year more than 10,000 developers are expected to participate across 136 cities.

IBM will be providing cloud services to participants during the hackathon. Participants will be given access to IBM's Bluemix platform as well as the company's signature tools, i.e., analytical power of supercomputer Watson to crunch NASA data.

Apart from IBM, Google, Microsoft and Intel are among other collaborators on the competition.

The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is at the forefront of innovation, providing real-world examples of how technology can be used to by the best and brightest developers in the world to solve some of the most daunting challenges facing our civilization," said Sandy Carter, General Manager, Cloud Ecosystem and Developers, IBM. "Using the IBM Cloud, IBM is making it easier for developers to solve NASA challenges by helping them leverage and make sense of data in ways that wouldn't have been possible even just a few years ago."

IBM held a similar hackathon at Washington's Howard University last month, offering Bluemix as a development platform to engineering and computer science students. The company said it would invest $3 billion in a new Internet of Things business unit.

The challenge will be held April 10-12 and participants can register on the agency's Web site.