Hermes invited the next generation of coders, programmers and designers to go head-to-head to create solutions for the home delivery industry in its first Hackathon.
Hermes granted students from Leeds Beckett University in the UK special access to its development portal and the company’s Application Program Interfaces (APIs). Five student teams competed against industry thought leaders from the Hermes Innovation Lab in an attempt to create the next big delivery solution within the six-hour time slot.
The event was staged alongside the university to encourage young innovators to bring ideas to life, with the judging panel comprising Carole Woodhead, CEO of Hermes; Chris Ashworth, CIO at Hermes; Zoe McClelland, head of business strategy, operations and enterprise at Leeds Beckett; and Sean Davis, technical consultant from Google, who flew in from Switzerland specifically for the event.
Woodhead said, “The energy, creativity and commercial prowess displayed by this group of students has been truly remarkable. I was impressed by how each team took the time to understand our business and developed highly innovative solutions that could make a real difference to the home delivery sector moving forward.
“Every student who took part in our first Hackathon did a fantastic job, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see many of these talented individuals working at Hermes HQ in the years to come.”
The winning group, Team 404, devised an app that would streamline the shipping process for myHermes customers, including increased functionality when printing multiple shipping labels. Each member won an Amazon Echo Dot.
McClelland added, “One of the key priorities for Leeds Business School is the employability of our students. This is a fantastic opportunity to engage with an organization such as Hermes to put into practice what they’ve learned.
April 3, 2017