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The annual #GirlCodeHack will take place in Johannesburg this weekend (August 5-6), with a total of ZAR300,000 (US$23,000) in prizes to be won.

The event will take place at Tshimologong Precinct, with the objective of providing young girls, with an opportunity to develop some of the real-world skills they need to enter the business environment.

This years’ hackathon will require participants to develop a solution within one of the following category areas: e-government, gamification, multi-channel retail, social welfare and productivity.

The grand prize is a trip to the Grace Hopper Celebration in the United States (US) in October, courtesy of Standard Bank. This is an annual event organised by the Anita Borg Institute to celebrate women in computing and is the world’s largest gathering of women technologists. Keynote speakers will include Melinda Gates, Dr Ayanna Howard, Dr Fei-Fei Li and Debbie Sterlig.

“As Standard Bank we are proud to be associated with initiatives that change the narrative on the opportunities available to young women,” says Jayshree Naidoo, head of the Standard Bank Incubator. “These programmes help us to grow and nurture talented individuals for the future world of work and get them to their next.

“Over the past year we have engaged in several programmes designed to promote a focus on woman in technology and the Grace Hopper Trip for girls is another avenue for us to do this.”

Participants will also be vying for second and third place spots and the chance to win several educational and data bundles courtesy of MTN.

“We have been overwhelmed by corporate support this year,” said Zandile Keebine, Girlcode chairwoman. “We want the hackathon to be more than women in tech getting together over a weekend; we want the girls to feel empowered after the event. The prizes on offer from Standard Bank and MTN are all designed to do just that.”

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