TechBridge

Submitted To: MEGA Hackathon Received: Entrepreneurship Award

Username: manager Password: manman123

(Non-profit Entrepreneurship)

Inspiration

In recent times, high school students have been having a massive impact on the world. Students who have started non-profits and businesses related to solving worldwide problems, and with the rapid development of technology, the potential impact our generation has on the future is endless.

Yet the majority of high school students that are taking computer science classes are not applying their skills in a real project and utilizing their potential.

In addition, with the exponential advancements of technology, a lot of people with disabilities are falling behind due to accessibility issues. Color-blind people might have a hard time using certain applications. Dyslexics may find some websites hard to read.

That's where TechBridge comes in. It is an idea for a non-profit organization that gathers qualified high school students to create apps and websites upon the community's request. Anyone can request an application to be made free of charge, and preference goes to people with disabilities and small businesses. These requests will then be taken up by high school students, part of the organization. The students will work in small groups and create the application, gaining volunteer hours, work experience, and a project to put on their resumes (could even be submitted to hackathons and other competitions).

Purpose

The purpose of Techbridge is summarized by the United Nation's ninth goal and tenth goal: "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation" and "Reduce inequality within and among countries"

Many aspiring computer scientists and engineers have trouble coming up with project ideas, so working on real-world projects fueled by the motivation to get community service hours and build projects not only fosters innovation but promotes sustainable industrialization. The projects will be catered towards people with disabilities' request for applications so we can reduce inequality in technology.

Procedure

Our website was constructed utilizing Django as the framework, with Python in the backend and HTML, CSS, and JS in the frontend. By leveraging the Django framework and Python, we were able to create a dynamic website that utilizes a SQLite database.

Challenges

Some challenges we faced were creating and managing databases, as none of us had experience in such areas. The process of creating and managing the many to many relationships as well as the one to many relationships was difficult to do.

Accomplishments

Through overcoming challenges we accomplished: 1. Creating a functional website. 2. Creating a database that interacts with the website. 3. Thinking up and creating a system that theoretically would be able to stand the test of time.

Takeaways

We took away many valuable lessons from this hackathon; however, there was one that was the most important.

We realized that although we had a perfectly functioning idea, we had in theory a project that would be massively useful, we had the next "Google," there is a reason why there are not thousands of successful tech companies and only a few that would stand the test of time.

The biggest takeaway would be that this project does not end here, and the point of these hackathons is to inspire greatness. For this project to be useful we would have to put a continual effort to push our project out into the world.

The Future of TechBridge

No matter the outcome of the hackathon, we are determined to create this non-profit, as we believe this can have a positive impact on both the community and aspiring high school students.

Plan to carry out this non-profit

  1. Create the non-profit and reach out to our local community if anyone with a disability or a small business would like an application to be made.

  2. Create a few requested applications to gain credibility.

  3. Start reaching out to local high school students who have taken a CS class and grow the organization.

  4. Start spreading our organization through flyers, emails, and social media. Advertise the organization in disability groups and reach out to small businesses that dont have a website.

  5. Become a 501(c)(3) non-profit and a PVSA awarding non-profit to encourage donations and more volunteers to join.

  6. Empower the new generation to have an positive impact on the world.