Design and build a new Android mobile app for participants of the annual Space Apps Ottawa hackathon

The Goal: Create a mobile-friendly Android mobile app for participants of the annual Space Apps Ottawa hackathon (which we help sponsor and organize). The HackathonThe hackathon is our Ottawa version of the NASA International Space Apps Hackathon, and will be held October 18-20 at Carleton University's Technology Innovation Management Program. The event is an intense 48-hour global weekend hackathon for developers, designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, astronomers and enthusiasts. Along with 212 cities around the world, Ottawa teams form and build products and prototypes against NASA- and (in our case) Canadian Space Agency-designed challenges that leverage spacecraft, celestial & science data. You can learn more at the current version of our hackathon website. The Mobile AppThe mobile app will improve the participant experience during the event. Some suggested content and features will be provided at the start of the project. You can get an idea of the kind of content from our website. Some ideas for the app include an easy way to filter and view challenges, a way to receive updates and news from organizers, a list of helpful links and resources, and a way to vote for people's choice hackathon winner. It would be helpful to allow dynamic content updates from an online content management system (WordPress) pages.The only real requirements are:1) The app must work on popular phones using Android 9 Pie (or later)2) We must be able to distribute the app via our website and/or email3) Whatever solution you deliver and technical libraries you use must be compatible with the Apache 2.0 licence.Ultimately the content, layout, and technology are up to you - use your creativity!Your ContributionUse your skills and creativity to design and build the Android app. We can't wait to see what you come up with!Your work will be put to immediate use in this year's Space Apps hackathon in Ottawa, and possibly by some of our sister cities in the future!The mobile app will be released under the open source Apache 2 licence which enables others (including yourselves) to use it for any purpose, with attribution. You will be able to showcase this app in your portfolio should you wish.

Branding work for online Climate Change Impact portal

The GoalWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change impact planning web portal (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The portal will recommend a set of actions that ordinary citizens can take to avoid, mitigate, adapt, or rebuild from climate change disasters. We would like assistance coming up with the branding strategy, design & guidelines, and then (time allowing) produce key graphics and messages for our prototype portal.Your ContributionWe would like you to produce:1) Branding strategy2) Branding design & guidelines3) Key graphics and messages (ex logo, slogan)At the start of the project we will provide a walk-through of our prototype site and content, provide background research on user types and customer personas, some suggested marketing materials etc.

Design Employee Guide and Ongoing Engagement Plan for Remote Staff

The Goal: We are hiring more staff and consultants to help us build various internal and client software projects. We all work remotely from each other, and we want our team to have the most positive and productive learning and work experience possible!We require a process, supporting documents like an employee handbook, and high-level implementation plan that we can do remotely, to help onboard our staff and keep them motivated while working remotely from each other. The new team member should learn about our company’s vision mission and values, understand our remote working standards and habits, as well as how to use and get help with the various tools and processes we follow for time-tracking, project management, reporting, etc.Potential Considerations (as well as any others you think of)What impression should new hires walk away with at the end of the first day?What do new staff need to know about our culture and work environment?What kind of tools are available for administrative and day-to-day tasks. How do they get started, how do they get help if needed?Is the process for new part-time contractors different than for full time employees?What role will the new hire's direct managers and co-workers play in the process?How will we gather feedback on the onboarding program and employee handbook and measure its success?How do we setup employees remotely to overcome the challenges associated with remote work.Introduce employees to a range of communication and productivity tools.Should we provide perqs (rewards etc) during this process, and if so what?Your ContributionWe would like you to design a process, supporting documents, and high-level implementation plan that we will follow to integrate a new employee working remotely online with the company and its culture, and give them the tools and information needed to become a productive member of the team and bolster employee excitement and engagement even when working remotely.Your contribution will directly define how our company handles the first few days and months of a new employee's experience to ensure high job satisfaction, effective work habits, and long-term retention.We are excited about our projects and our work, and your creativity in helping us add new teammates is welcome and highly encouraged!

Recommend a "Trust and Collaboration Framework" for a Climate Change Application

The Goal: We are designing a climate change impact planning software that helps Canadian citizens take personal action to avoid, mitigate, and recover from climate change impacts. Examples of recommended actions include steps to recover from home flooding damage, or how to prepare the family for an evacuation during a forest fire.These actions need to be provided and managed by "trusted authorities" (which will include faith groups, NGOs, scientists, academics, as well as government officials). The definition of "trusted authority" is obviously political and contentious (our working definition is included below).Please research and recommend a "trust and collaboration framework" - a set of processes that we can use to identify and verify the "trusted authorities" and the recommended actions they provide. When its comes to producing climate change actions expect trusted authorities from different organizations will have to work together in a particular region; therefore we also need a framework for them to collaborate (for example request and receive feedback on recommended tasks, and gain some kind of approval before those are published to the citizens).The Climate Change ProductWe are in the design and planning phase of a new climate change impact planning software product (related to "UN Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"). The product will recommend a set of actions that ordinary citizens can take to avoid, mitigate, adapt, or rebuild from climate change disasters. We have created prototype mobile and desktop applications and performed a great deal of technical and business research and proof of concepts and work continues on the feature set.Trusted Authority Definition(Working Definition - your work will probably influence this)Trusted authorities are:individuals or organizations; andHave exceptional, targeted knowledge and expertise of global warming and climate change issues, impacts, resilience and policy measures; andCan be reasonably expected to provide unbiased, apolitical advice; andAccept the currently-available scientific understanding of global warming and climate change, as described in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.Examples may include local councillors and city staff, urban planners, environmental and sustainability champions, and government officials at the provincial and federal levels, provided they meet the requirements listed above. It is possible for a "trusted authority" to become "untrusted" over time, or vice versa.Your ContributionWe think this is a unique project that will require you to really exercise your skills and creativity to come up with a framework. You will be required to perform primary and secondary research and policy analysis of existing collaboration and trust processes and frameworks. Then make a recommendation on what kind of model we should implement in our software.We can't wait to see what you come up with!The content you produce will be released under the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ content licence) which enables others to use it for any purpose, with attribution to you.