WaPOR Hackathon 2023: bridging the gap between data and decision making
A decision-support system that empowers farmers and policymakers alike: that’s the idea of the winning team of the recent 2023 WaPOR Hackathon, which brought together social and environmental scientists, hydraulic engineers, programmers, communications specialists, and local experts to create real-world applications using WaPOR remote sensing derived data.
WaPOR is the portal to monitor Water Productivity through Open-access of Remotely sensed derived data. Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the WaPOR database can assist countries in monitoring water productivity, identifying water productivity gaps, proposing solutions to reduce these gaps, and contributing to a sustainable increase in agricultural production. Livia Peiser, FAO technical officer for spatial analysis and water resources, welcomed the hackathon: “This is a critical topic because there is very little value for data if we can’t use it to support decision-making processes.”
“This is a critical topic because there is very little value for data if we can’t use it to support decision-making processes.”
Scalable user-friendly interface
Team SenBio, the winner of the 2023 WaPOR Hackathon: Communicating Data for Agriculture Applications, created a decision-making support system (DSS) called Biomass Climate Sensitivity. The system aims to bridge the gap between big data and the decision-making process. By providing access to actionable insights, the system empowers farmers and policy makers alike. The jury said SenBio was chosen as the winner for its swift and scalable user-friendly interface.
“SenBio empowers diverse stakeholders from farmers to policy makers by enhancing informed decision making in agriculture,” said SenBio team leader Ethiopia B. Zeleke, a doctoral candidate at Florida International University.
“SenBio empowers diverse stakeholders from farmers to policy makers by enhancing informed decision making in agriculture.”
Artificial intelligence
The runner-up team WaPOR.AI, used artificial intelligence to unlock the potential of the portal’s data. WaPOR.AI is an interactive interface which uses artificial intelligence to empower decision makers to predict the future. Using historic data, the tool forecasts water consumption and yields up to a month in advance. The tool can also be used for risk assessment.
In total, 168 participants from 38 countries registered for the WaPOR Hackathon and were organized into 22 teams that were invited to use the WaPOR Hackathon event page on the IHE Delft’s OpenCourseWare. In the first week, 11 teams submitted one-minute videos pitching their ideas to the jury. Five were shortlisted for the final week. The finalists submitted five-minute videos detailing their ideas for the closing event of the 2023 WaPOR Hackathon.
In addition to the winner SenBio and runner up WaPOR.AI, the shortlisted teams included:
- WaPLUGIN+ – an all-in-one solution for data validation and integration. This application retrieves, validates, calculates data to support sustainable decisions using WaPOR Data.
- SoWaA – a two-way soil and water health budget tool for agriculture. The app enables farmers, policy makers and local stakeholders to input information which is used for making recommendations for growing crops.
- Growwise – an app to predict crop growth for urban and peri-urban farmers using WaPOR data. The app recommends which crops will grow best at any location.
WaPOR Hackathon partners
The hackathon, held between 12-26 October, was organized under the WaPOR Project by IHE Delft, with support and collaboration from the FAO, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the WaterPIP Knowledge and Action Network project (WaterPIP-KAN). The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported financially.
Stay connected!
The 2024 WaPOR Hackathon is already being planned, so stay connected by following @WaterAccounting on Twitter and check the Water Accounting Website for upcoming events.