ING organizes annual global ‘hackathon’ in Romania

8 October 2015

Last year it was Amsterdam, but this year Bucharest will host the ING’s annual global ‘hackathon’, 24CodING 2015.

Platform for entrepreneurial spirits

Two hundred employees and around hundred external developers/IT students from Romania are expected to gather on 20 November for the 24-hour coding event. 24H-CodING facilitates future development by being the platform for entrepreneurial spirits, who believe their idea for an innovative application, website or start-up can be of added value regarding the theme of this year: 'Next generation digital bank'.

Bucharest IT Centre of Excellence

Bucharest was chosen to host the event as part of a strategy to establish ING as a major IT employer and to support recruitment in the establishment of Romania’s ING Centre of Excellence (CoE).Ron van Kemenade, Chief Information Officer at ING Bank vistied Bucharest to meet with IT employees and launch the event.

In an interview with Romanian newspaper Wallstreet Ron van Kemenade said: " To a bank, technology is very important in meeting the customer’s needs. To this end, we shifted our internal skills and competences, the way we work and implemented new technologies 3-4 years ago. This is how ING’s Hackathon emerged. Since we have growth plans in Romania, we have decided to organize it in Bucharest.”

The big award: a trip in Silicon Valley

Teams at the hackthon must have 6 to 12 members that can enter the competition by applying at https://24hcoding.com/ platform untill 28th of October. Participants can be part of a complete team or they can apply individually and be part of a forming one.

The five juries at Hackathon will select the best and most innovative ideas for the bank of the future, and the team to take the first spot will be awarded with a trip to Silicon Valley. The top 3 teams will be awarded and their ideas will be analyzed for future implementation at ING.