Projects: Cisco University Challenge

As part of a 24-hour hackathon, I collaborated as a team of four to design and build an innovative app that maximized the utilization of open data sources for the British Transport Police. The app integrated real-time information from sources such as Twitter and National Rail data, aiming to improve situational awareness and decision-making in transport-related incidents. We tackled the challenge by identifying key data streams, designing user-friendly interfaces, and implementing algorithms to process and visualize information effectively.

An interesting portion for me was to to use the Twitter API to find localised and time-sensitive tweets with keywords regarding the crime, expanding the scope of information available for the British Transport Police.

This project was a crash course in teamwork, rapid prototyping, and leveraging open data for meaningful applications. I honed my skills in data integration, API usage, and app development under intense time constraints. Beyond technical expertise, the experience reinforced the importance of clear communication, efficient problem-solving, and adaptability when working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. The project showcased how technology and data can combine to provide practical solutions for public safety challenges.

We went on to win the project, and succeeded through a second round of applications, and were eventually offered seed money to continue the project, which we as a group decided to turn down to continue with and complete our studies.