Malaysia Airlines launches Travel Hackathon in a bid to encourage innovation

The first airline in Malaysia to organize public hacking event

Sepang, 10 January 2017- Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) today announced that it will be opening applications for Malaysians to take part in its first travel Hackathon event with a grand prize of RM20,000.  The national carrier will be the first airline in the country to embark on this innovative approach to encourage programmers, developers and creative designers to develop solutions based on ideas submitted by staff and the public for the host Company.

Hackathon (#MABHackathon) is a project by MAB aimed at harnessing innovation and creativity among its internal talents and innovation community in Malaysia.

Taking from this year’s theme ‘Innovate Traveller’s Experience’, Malaysia Airlines’ travel Hackathon is all about giving the opportunity to the digital community to contribute and collaborate with Malaysia Airlines in improving the customer experience with the introduction of various innovative solutions. The ultimate goal is to enhance the passenger’s travel experience and, at the same time, improve the efficiency of the airline’s operations.

Those interested can sign up from the 11th until 25th January 2017, where 20 selected teams will be brought together in a two-day event at the Malaysia Airlines Academy (MAA) in Kelana Jaya on the 18thto 19th February 2017 (Hack Day).

Prior to the Hack Day, all participants will be invited to attend the Hackathon soft launch on the 10th of February, where the teams will be able to pick from 20 ideas revealed. A briefing on the Application Programme Interface (API) will be conducted to inform participants so they are able to apply in their solutions.

During the Hack Day, the participating teams will be required to be onsite for two days and present their prototypes to the panel of judges. The team with the best invention will take home a cash prize of RM20,000, Economy Class return tickets to London, and win themselves a three month incubation programme in the Malaysia Airlines Innovation Lab. The winning team will also be granted exclusive entry to the National Big App Challenge 4.0, a Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) initiative.

To register, the participants need to form a team of three to four individuals aged 18 and above.

Self-registration can be made through the airline’s dedicated Hackathon website at https://hackathon.malaysiaairlines.com.