Between June 27 and 29, the IT college 42 hosted the hackathon organized by GDF SUEZ. This contest invited IT developers, designers, students and GDF SUEZ employees to design a prototype app or online service that would harness the smart energies of tomorrow.

The hackathon - its name comes from merging the words 'hack' and 'marathon' - is a collaborative programming contest in which developers, designers and even marketeers compete to design prototype apps. With a contest theme of 'Inventing Smart Energy', it was split into two categories: the first set the challenge of minimizing energy consumption and bills, while the second focused on using data generated by connected objects.

This hackathon attracted around 100 contestants, of whom 25% were students and 30% were GDF SUEZ employees. After 48 hours of intense work interspersed with life-saving breaks, the teams had only 3 minutes to convince the judges. At the end of this final sprint, it was the 'Instant Energy', 'ScanMyWatt' and 'Super Green' teams that crossed the line first, second and third.

Jean-François Cirelli, Vice-Chairman of GDF SUEZ and President of the Energy Europe Business Line, described the way in which this hackathon encouraged the emergence of new energy and such a diversity of contestants as a real opportunity to "energize the company."

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