iHack 4.0 organised by University of Colombo School of Computing ISACA Student Group

iHack 4.0, the ultimate 24-hour inter-university software development hackathon organised by the University of Colombo School of Computing ISACA Student Group, was held successfully for the fourth consecutive year on 6-7 October at the UCSC premises, with the immense support of event partners.

The Platinum Partner of the event was ISM APAC, a major contributor in software and hosting services and a part of the world-wide ISM-eGroup. The Gold Partner of the event was DirectFN, which leads emerging and frontier markets in the financial services industry, while the Silver partner was Just In Time Group, currently the best system integrators of Sri Lanka. UPay, which aspires to disrupt the Fintech industry through cutting-edge technology innovations, was the official Technology Partner. ISACA Sri Lanka Chapter as the Co-Partner, PAHASARA UCSC Students blog as the Official Digital Media partner, and Hackathons.lk as Official Online Event Partner gave massive support toward the success of iHack 4.0. More than 100 teams registered for iHack 4.0 from both State and private universities all over the country. 15 teams with the greatest and novel ideas were selected to participate to the main event. 

The event started on 6 October in the morning with participant registration. The traditional oil lamp was lit, marking the beginning of iHack 4.0. University of Colombo School of Computing Director Prof. K.P. Hewagamage addressed the gathering, followed by representatives from the ISACA Sri Lanka Chapter, ISM APAC and DirectFN. An introduction to iHack 4.0 was given by UCSC ISACA Student Group President Sajitha Liyanage.

After the opening ceremony, the participant teams were allocated team numbers, the hackathon commenced, and the battle to make their dream innovations become real began. In the evening, a code review session was done by the skilled experts from ISM APAC, and DirectFN, who went to all the participants to review their codes and work-in-progress, inquire about their projects, and guide them in the right direction. After the pre-pitch submission deadline ended, the teams presented their pre-pitching presentations projects to the judges. The next day, the hackathon ended, and the top 5 finalist teams were selected from the semi-final presentations by three judge boards. The finalist teams included ‘The TeamName’ and ‘PHOENIX’ from University of Moratuwa, ‘CrunchCode’ from University of Peradeniya, ‘Team inIdea’ from University of Kelaniya, and ‘Awake’ from University of Jaffna.

The winners were chosen after a final presentation by the selected teams, conducted under the supervision of a panel of judges with extensive experience. The 2nd runner up was ‘Team inIdea’ from University of Kelaniya, 1st runner up was ‘CrunchCode’ from University of Peradeniya, and the winner was ‘The TeamName’ from University of Moratuwa. The winners and all participants received prizes and certificates for their achievements, and the event came to an end, leaving good memories and experience for everyone, with an expectation to witness iHack 5.0 next year.