The Future Cities Hackathon will be held in Cape Town from 1 to 2 March by co-hosts, Startupbootcamp AfriTech (SBC) and RCS. The event underlines the Sustainable Development Goals and challenges citizen innovators to showcase disruptive solutions for water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, and smart mobility.

SBC AfriTech is a prestigious programme for Africa-focused tech startups. The programme supports the world’s up-and-coming pioneers including African tech startups, linking them to the fastest-moving corporates on the continent.

It is the only multi-corporate backed accelerator of its kind, powered by Old Mutual, Nedbank, RCS, BNP Paribas Personal Finance and PwC.

Last year, SBC AfriTech was named the Top Accelerator on the African continent by the Global Startup Awards.The accelerator is sponsored by some of the most innovative corporate partners in Africa and has proven to be a successful channel to scout, skill, and scale disruptive startups.

Regan Adams, CEO of RCS explains, “This year we will broaden our focus on the water crisis to include water sanitation and marine pollution. In addition, our focus on South Africa’s growing marine pollution, caused by rapid population growth and increasing industrialisation, is also in line with the global corporate investment strategy of our holding company, BNP Paribas. The second focus will be on finding sustainable and affordable transport solutions which is becoming a major issue in our cities. RCS is excited to once again be part of the Hackathon initiative and we unequivocally support and believe in our local startups in finding the most sustainable solutions for these challenges.”

Now in their third consecutive year, SBC is applying this powerful Corporate Startup Collaboration to solve municipal challenges.

Using Cape Town as a lab, the impact-orientated Future Cities Hackathon will focus on the following three UN Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation

SDG 11: Life Below Water

SDG 14: Sustainable Cities & Communities

“Startupbootcamp AfriTech has committed to championing Global Goal 11 (Sustainable Goals and Cities) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by connecting solution-makers with corporates, innovation ecosystems, thought leaders, investors and mentors,” states Motlhabane Koloi, Legal and Scouting Manager and SDG Initiative Lead for SBC AfriTech.

This Hackathon will bring together innovators and corporates to materialise three of the sustainable development goals and we are excited to be setting the standard for sustainable innovation in corporates and the broader innovation ecosystem.

The hackathon will feature several top-level keynote speakers discussing the daunting challenges brought about by pollution, water access and urbanization.

The event is open to citizen innovators, startups and anyone with ideas to solving the most pressing sustainable development challenges facing our world today.

Over the course of two days, the goal is for attendees to form five to 10 teams tackling different challenges. These teams will focus on practical solutions that could be further developed and implemented with the support of the sponsors and their partners.

The aim of the hackathon is to crowdsource solutions, talent, and business models from the Cape Town innovation and resilience enablement ecosystem.

By holding events in more than 100 cities each year, SBC supports the world’s most talented founders with hands-on mentorship and access to key industry connections. SBC is known for growing and scaling innovative solutions to modern challenges within the African continent. This hackathon in particular strives to solve pertinent issues such as the water crisis by embracing new technology and ideas.

If you or anyone you know has a tech-based idea or solution to solve the challenges as stipulated by the Sustainable Development Goals, attend the hackathon and see your solution come to fruition.

Get your tickets here: http://qkt.io/futurecity