We here at Binnovative would like to thank everyone who participated on October in this year’s NASA International Space Apps Challenge (ISAC). ISAC is an international hackathon led and organized each year by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 2020 was the 7th year of this event, and featured some of the most diverse participation of any ISAC event so far! Over 26,000 hackers and creatives took part in the event across nearly 150 different countries; in all, over two thousand projects were submitted! Binnovative has been hosting the event in Boston (ISAC Boston) for several years now, and we were thrilled at the opportunity to do so again this year. This year, due to the challenges that we’re all facing with COVID-19, NASA ISAC 2020 took the form of an all-virtual online event! Over the weekend of October 3-4 hackers from the Boston community and beyond formed teams to take on various problems proposed by NASA. At the conclusion of two days of hard work, the teams presented the results of their hard work to our panel of judges comprised of entrepreneurs and subject matter experts from the Boston/Cambridge area community. These judges were given their own challenging task: choosing two winners from the excellent projects our teams brought to the table! After some deliberation, the judges made their decision! We offer our heartfelt congratulations to our local winners: teams Sundews and Sphagnum! Team Sundews and Sphagnum tackled the challenge “Sustaining Our Planet for Future Generations” with a proposal for a set of sustainable experiments aimed at evaluating the prospects of using plants to address the problem of combatting particulate matter and air pollution on earth and on spacecraft. We’d also like to offer our thanks to the other two teams that completed the challenge: teams JAWAS and ZASA. Team JAWAS tackled the challenge “Better Together” with a presentation on the Model Minority Myth and the challenges that Asian-American Pacific Islanders face in the workplace, at school, and beyond. Team ZASA, comprised of students from the Z-Kai Learning lab faced not only challenges of language, but also the “Putting the ‘Art’ in Artemis” challenge with their project: “\MARSCRAFT/” which offers a virtual reality based look at what life might be like on mars. This was our 7th consecutive year hosting the International Space Apps Challenge here in Boston, and it may have been our most unique year yet! Our teams produced some excellent projects, and we’re immensely grateful to everyone who participated in this year’s virtual event. This event would not have been the resounding success it was without the generous support of our sponsors. Also special thanks to consulate general of japan in Boston, consul general of Japan in Boston Mr.Omori for delivering the opening speech to support and encourage teams. On behalf of the organizers, participants, and the program coordinators at NASA, we thank you and your organization for your kindness and and generosity in supporting this endeavor, and we hope that you will support us again in the years to come! Thanks as well to our judges, volunteers, and of course, our participants! We hope to see you all again soon! NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2020 projects https://2020.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston-ma/teams Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/
NASA Space Apps Challenge 2020 Event Page Launched
NASA Space Apps Challenge 2020 Event Page : http://spaceappsboston.org/ NASA International Space App Challenge(ISAC) is an international mass collaborative hackathon focused on space exploration that takes place over 48-hours in cities around the world. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the interest of our global community’s health and safety,NASA and the Space Apps Global Organizing Team have made the difficult decision to make the 2020 hackathon an all-virtual event. Event date will be on 10/3 and 4. Binnovative is organizing NASA ISAC in Boston 7th time virtually. To participate, you can form your own teams among your friends. The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions applicable to both life on Earth and life in space. NASA expects to see wide scope of talents: programmers, designers, artists, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, developers, and anyone with creative mind. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A PROGRAMMER to take part in this event. Our gold sponsor Kintone(https://developer.kintone.io/hc/en-us) – no/low code development platform will provide developer access to attendees. Kintone is a cloud platform for teams with a visual application builder that enables organizations to effectively manage their data and workflows for better collaboration. This is no code/low code system so attendees who don’t code can build apps effectively. Click here for more info and to register !
2019 NASA ISAC hackathon in Boston was successfully done!
As we make our way into Spring 2020, we would like to take a few moments to reflect on 2019’s NASA International Space Apps Challenge (ISAC). ISAC is an international hackathon led and organized each year by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 2019 was the 6th year of this event, and included over 29,000 participants at 225 events in 71 countries; in all, over two thousand projects were submitted! Binnovative has been hosting the event in Boston (ISAC Boston) for several years now. This year, we teamed up with our friends at Brooklyn Boulders (BKB) in Somerville, MA to host a two day event with over fifty participants! Over the weekend of October 19-20 our talented hackers formed thirteen teams to take on various problems proposed by NASA. At the conclusion of two days of hard work, the teams formed presentations to demonstrate the results of their hard work to our panel of judges comprised of entrepreneurs and subject matter experts from the local community. These judges were given the unenviable task of choosing just two winners, from all of the excellent projects our teams brought to the table, to proceed onto global judging by NASA. Ultimately, the judges made their decision, and we offer our heartfelt congratulations to our winners: teams SpaceTeam6 and Remember Me! SpaceTeam6 tackled the challenge “Build a Planet” with an educational virtual reality (VR) experience aimed at providing an immersive demonstration of the habitable zone and other features of our solar system which make life possible. Team Remember Me took on the challenge “The Memory-Maker” with a physical memory system inspired by punch card and videocassette recorder technology (and yes, we do remember those) which could be used to store data in harsh extraterrestrial environments, such as those found on Venus, where traditional electromagnetic recording mediums would not work. Their concept would ultimately bring them all the way to the Global Finals! This is quite an achievement, as out of over two thousand projects worldwide, only the top 30 projects are accepted as “Global Finalists” and given the opportunity presented as candidates for one of six global awards. There are approximately five projects nominated for each global award, though NASA reserves the right to change the total number of finalists per category. This was our 6th consecutive year hosting the International Space Apps Challenge here in Boston, and it may have been our best year yet! Our teams produced some excellent projects and even a Global Finalist! We even had a visit from local radio station WBZ NewsRadio 1030, who helped to spread our message of collaborative innovation to the local community. This event would not have been the resounding success it was without the generous support of our sponsors. On behalf of the organizers, participants, and the program coordinators at NASA, we thank you and your organization for your kindness and and generosity in supporting this endeavor, and we hope that you will support us again in the years to come! Thanks as well to our judges, volunteers, and of course, our participants! We hope to see you all again soon! NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2019 projects https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org/location/cambridge-ma/#projects Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/ Team “Remember me”, received Global Finalist award https://2019.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/planets-near-and-far/memory-maker/teams/remember-me/project Thank you to our judges, and everyone who participated in #SpaceApps 2019 here at Brooklyn Boulders. This year we had some truly exceptional projects from our talented participants, and we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did! #Binnovative pic.twitter.com/PjQ5DlBVMU — Space Apps Boston (@SpaceAppsBoston) October 21, 2019
Eriko spoke as a panelist at the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference (SECON) – ハーバード社会起業大会でパネル登壇しました。(By Eriko)
Eriko spoke as a panelist at the 20th Harvard Social Enterprise Conference (SECON) Panel : “Innovators Everywhere: Pathways to Progress through “Unlikely” Problem Solvers” This panel was themed around Open Innovation2.0; one of the solutions to “complex social problems”. The collaborations seen these days – the public x private sectors, old large companies x startups, and also talent pools of individual contributors around the world. Our panel consisted of people with a mix of backgrounds – federal government, international development, civic hacking, and community-based incubation. I was part of this panel as a practitioner of cross culture community-based open innovation. Multi-cultural collaboration is always difficult as it requires people with totally different backgrounds and thought processes to work together – the outcome people expect is called “disruptive innovation”. But it is not easy. What then is the solution? I was really curious to hear about this from other panelists. I always thought “Entrepreneurial mindset” in individuals is the key. Innovation, collaboration, all of these come from individuals. This is the reason Binnovative exists. And the interesting thing is — my peer panelists also thought that mindset is key. Regardless of their background. Everyone who experienced successful collaboration (maybe after failures) seem to come to the same conclusion. I really liked interacting with peer panelists having similar goals. Appreciated being part of this amazing panel, learned a lot, and made great friends. (Special thanks to the moderator Matt Scott, the global lead of NASA ISAC which we organize Boston event every year) Being part of this panel also reconfirmed what I am in the process of achieving as a socially minded entrepreneur. Finally, I really appreciate my Binnovative team members and the Binnovative community. I was a representative of Binnovative at this panel; this happened because of everyone.One more thing — I respect the dedication of the many people I met, who flew in from Japan, India, or the Middle East, down to Boston especially for this event. There is a wealth of learning about the subject of Social Enterprise in this conference. (According to Mr. Yutaka Tanabe who is attending this event every year since 2003 all the way from Japan, I am the first Japanese female panelist). （日本語） 3/2, ハーバード社会起業大会でパネル登壇してきました。（毎年開催されるこの大会、今年が20回目とのことです。） パネルのタイトルは、“Innovators Everywhere: Pathways to Progress through “Unlikely” Problem Solvers” 複雑な社会問題（complex social problems）を解決する為の、いわゆるOpen Innovation2.0*についての議題です。 Open Innovation1.0*は、問題提供、問題解決を一対一の関係性で行うものであるのに対して、Open Innovation2.0は、社会解決の課題を解決する新しいタイプのオープンイノベーション、共創型の課題解決法です。（”コレクティブインパクト”のコンセプトとも言えるかと思います）今回のSECONのメインテーマも、Unlikely Allies, とあるように、様々なコラボレーションから、社会課題にも破壊的なイノベーションが求められていることがよく映しだされています。 *Open Innovation1.0, Open Innovation2.0 について：Open Innovationについてのレクチャーと、Binnovativeの活動でどのようにOpen Innovationアクティビティを実施しているか、については去年(2018年）の1月にニューヨークのMBAの会でレクチャーさせていただいたので、その時に使ったスライドをこちらにシェアしました ↓（日本語）。よろしければご参照くださいオープンイノベーション講義スライド 私たちのパネルは、政府の関係者、政府とスタートアップを連携させる取り組みをしている人、国際開発の人など様々なバックグラウンドの人が混じっており、その様々なバックグランドに同じ「コラボレーション」という軸を刺して何が出てくるかというとても興味深いセッションでした。 NASA International Space Apps Challenge (ISAC) のグローバルオーガナイザーであるMatt Scott氏がパネルモデレーター、数年前までグローバルオーガナイザーを担当していたBlake Garcia氏もパネリストとして登壇。私は、５年間ISAC Bostonを主催しているBinnovativeを代表して、国や文化、バックグラウンドが激しく違う人たちのコラボレーションでオープンイノベーションプロジェクトをやっている立場で参加しました。 コラボレーションから破壊的イノベーションが生まれるのを切望して、様々な切り口からのコラボレーションを行う潮流が出てきているここ最近、何が難しい点で何が成功のポイントなのか。 私は、Binnovativeを立ち上げた理由も、活動を続けている理由も、「個々のアントレプレナーシップマインドセット」が全てのキーだと思っています。何故なら、コラボレーションだってイノベーションだって、人がやるんだから。企業の中のオープンイノベーション担当、政府のイノベーション担当。スタートアップのCEO。日本人。アメリカ人。 で、他のパネリストも、結局は「マインドセットが大事」と、人レベルに落ちてきているところで、すごく共感しました。 素敵なピアパネリストの皆さんと楽しい時間が過ごせたことを感謝。この素晴らしいパネリストチームを選りすぐって招集してくれたMatt Scottに感謝。 そして、この場に私はBinnovativeの代表で出たわけですが、一緒にイベントを作って実行してくれている、そしてパネルにも応援に来てくれた仲間に感謝。 また、この大会のために国外（日本やインド）からわざわざ飛んできている方にお目にかかりました。Social entreprise に対する真剣さには頭が下がります。大会でお目にかかった田辺さんは2003年から毎年来られているということで脱帽です。この大会にはそれだけの価値があるのだということです。（2003年から毎年この大会に参加されている！ 田辺さんによると、日本人女性がこの大会で登壇するのは大会で初めてだそうです） 本記事の内容に関して、詳しく記載したNoteのリンク↓を記載します。是非こちらもご参照ください（日本語）ハーバード社会起業大会(Harvard Social Enterprise Conference)でパネル登壇しました。 -Eriko
NASA ISAC 2018 Survey Results: How Did We Do?
Every year, we collect survey from participants after NASA International Space Apps Challenge. As organizer of the event, we want to make sure that participants’ expectations for the event are matched and that the event’s outcome align with our mission. So how did we do? Let’s take a look at 2018 NASA Hackathon’s feedbacks. [日本語] NASA International Space Apps Challengeではイベント開催後、参加者アンケートを集めています。これは、主催者として参加者の期待に応えると共に、私たちがミッションに沿う体験やスキルを皆様に提供できているか、評価する指標になります。さて、結果は？2018年NASAハッカソンにおける参加者の評価を見ていきましょう。 Participation: Participants by Team Type: Binnovative ISAC is a truly international event, with almost two thirds of our participants taking part in an international team. Our international teams provide opportunities for collaboration between participants in Tokyo, Boston and elsewhere in the world, allowing international team members to gain valuable experience working with people with different skills and backgrounds. 本年の大会(Binnovative ISAC)では2/3近くの参加者がインターナショナルチームに参加し、その名の通り国際的な大会となりました。インターナショナルチームではボストン、東京、その他地域の間にコラボレーションの機会を提供し、異なるバックグラウンドやスキルを持つ参加者が互いに協働する体験を可能にしています。 Participants by Venue Location:. Although the majority of our participants did so from the ISAC Boston venue, the number of participants taking part at the Tokyo Venue has increased since previous years. One of the advantages of this is a greater opportunity for even more of our participants to take part in international teams, with all of the challenges and rewards that come with it. 参加者の大部分がボストンからの参加を占めましたが、東京会場からの参加者は昨年に比べ増えたようです。それに伴い、インターナショナルチームの数が増え、インターナショナルチームに参加できる機会が増えました。 Demographics: Participants by Field: Although the majority of our participants come from an academic background, they come from a wide variety of different fields including engineering, computer science, software development and more. This diversity is one of the keys to success in hacking, as it provides participants with exposure to different perspectives and ideas. 参加者のほとんどが学術機関からの参加でしたが、その分野は工学、コンピュータサイエンス、ソフトウェア開発など多岐に渡りました。こういった多様性は参加者に様々な視点やアイディアに触れる機会をもたらし、ハッカソン成功への鍵となります。 Participants by Occupation: The majority of our participants are students from the Boston or Tokyo areas. Keeping in line with the results of the survey regarding age, more than half of the participants are undergraduate college students, with many of our older participants being either graduate students or working professionals. ボストンか東京エリアからの学生の参加がほとんどを占めました。半分以上が学部生の参加だったことは年齢層のデータにも現れていますが、更に上の世代を見ると、大学院生や社会人の参加者がが多くを占めました。 Participants by Age: The majority of our participants were of college age, with about two thirds of respondents indicating that they were below twenty-six years old. Members of this age group are some of the most highly involved in the hacking community, however as the data indicates, there is plenty of room for participation older than this. 大学生の年齢層が大半を占め、アンケートに答えた参加者の2/3は26歳以下でした。ハッカソンのコミュニティへの貢献度はこの年齢層が高いですが、データから見て分かるように、それより上の世代の方々に参加していただける余地はまだありそうです。 Hackathon Experience The majority of participants indicated that they found the hackathon to be adequate or better in helping them to think outside the box and come up with new and innovative ideas. ほとんどの参加者が本大会は独創的に新しい、または革新的なアイディアを考える上で役立ったと答えました。 The majority of participants indicated that they found their progress over the course of the hackathon to be adequate or better. One of the biggest challenges in participating in a hackathon is the time and resource constraint. Ultimately, it is a great accomplishment being able to meet the goals that are set during the planning phase of the hacking process. ほとんどの参加者がハッカソンで十分な、またはそれ以上の結果を残せたようです。本大会における一番のチャレンジに時間とリソースの制限があります。プロジェクトの企画で立てた計画案を遂行しゴール達成できることは素晴らしいことです。 One of the advantages and challenges of Binnovative ISAC is our strong emphasis on international collaboration. In addition to the challenges of hacking, our participants (particularly those involved in international teams) face the challenge of communicating across language and cultural barriers. We provide our participants with resources to help them overcome this challenge, and we’re pleased that our participants found doing so to be an educational experience. 本大会の利点でありチャレンジでもあるのが、国際交流がとても強調されている点です。参加者は、ハッキングのみならず、言語や文化の壁を超えてコミュニケーションを図るというチャレンジに向き合います。それに対し私たちはサポートを提供しますが、このチャレンジが参加者の大事な学習機会になったことを嬉しく思います。 We’re pleased to note that the overwhelming majority of respondents indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend our event to a friend. This suggests a likelihood of strong participation in our future events, and we’re very much looking forward to continuing to host Binnovative ISAC. 参加者の大半に、本大会を友達に勧めることに賛成、または強く賛成すると答えていただき、私たちは嬉しく思います。将来私たちが主催するイベントに参加する可能性も強く示すもので、引き続きBinnovative ISACを主催できることを楽しみにしています。 We are pleased to see these results, as we plan to improve the participants experience every year. We look forward to seeing you at the next event! 毎年参加者に提供できる体験を改善する中で、上記の結果を受けて嬉しく思います。また次のイベントで皆様と会えることを楽しみにしています！