Teams from across Canada compete in Open Science and Data Platform ‘Hackathon’ Challenge

Would you like to have a say in improving the user experience of a federal open-access science and data platform?

That was the lead question for the invitation to participate in the Open Science and Data Platform (OSDP) User Experience (UX) Hackathon, a data tech challenge set up to investigate and discover potential innovations for the platform. The OSDP is Canada’s point of access to data and information relevant to cumulative effects, major development projects, and impact or regulatory processes, aggregated from federal, provincial and territorial systems.

A collaborative initiative between Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Dalhousie University’s Department of Information Science (Faculty of Management), the hackathon brought together a diverse group of participants from a variety of backgrounds and regions from across Canada. Whether an established natural scientist, information technology student, environmental enthusiast, or someone with a keen interest in data and user experience, all were invited to apply – one of the conditions set by NRCan for the roll-out of the hackathon.

“We know that people have varying degrees of expertise when it comes to manipulating science and data content, especially when applying mapping tools,” said Dr. Ranjana Sharma, NRCan’s Chief Scientist. “That’s why we set out to create an innovation space where participants from all backgrounds could engage and collaborate to help evolve the OSDP – a key open government, digital asset for Canada.”

Open Science and Data Platform hackathon graphic designed by   Dalhousie University’s School of Information Science

Open Science and Data Platform hackathon graphic designed by Dalhousie University’s School of Information Science

The hackathon was held online over the course of a month (March 27 - April 24, 2024). It was a unique opportunity for passionate individuals to share ideas and develop innovative proposals like data analysis and visualization solutions, Web page mock-ups or API (application programming interface) features for improving the OSDP. To complete the hackathon, participants were required to interact and experiment with the platform and evaluate its usability, presentation of information, selection and variety of content, etc. Whether as part of a team or individually, hackathon participants were encouraged to start by reflecting on their experience of interacting with the OSDP and then develop recommendations to fill user gaps or opportunities that could help elevate the user experience.

The lead up to the last pitch

In total, 105 people registered to take part in information sessions about the platform and the hackathon. During these sessions, they also learned more about the specific hackathon challenge parameters put to them by NRCan and Dalhousie University organizers. Those included, in this order:

  • Identifying a relevant environmental challenge in which an OSDP dataset can be used;
  • Developing a solution by using at least one of the OSDP’s existing datasets;
  • Considering different kinds of content, such as publications, or technical features, like the mapping function, when developing a proposed solution; and
  • Developing a short demonstration of their solution by harnessing creative ways to demonstrate while noting the potential improvement to the user experience.

A wide array of novel proposals

In the end, all solution recommendations were presented virtually on May 15 to a judging panel made up of professors from Dalhousie University, the University of Ottawa’s Digital Transformation and Innovation program, and Conestoga College’s Applied Computer Science and Information Technology program.

On that day, the judges had their work cut out for them: a presentation marathon consisting of 13 individual or group demonstrations, and 31 participants in total. The judges reviewed the presentations and selected the most creative and innovative projects for prizes. Judges also considered the design and implementation of the solution proposals and how each provided useful and innovative insight into the OSDP user experience.

"Nothing is more interesting than giving a large group of people the same task and getting countless different ideas,” said Teianna Peart-Mollison, Dalhousie University research assistant and project manager for the hackathon. “I loved how innovative and expressive the participants were, and they showed that the best way to advance science and understanding is through collaborative efforts.”

“We found all presentations to be clear, engaging and insightful. We were very impressed by the diversity of approaches and methods applied to improving the user experience of the OSDP,” said Maddie Hare, hackathon judge and doctoral student in the Digital Transformation and Innovation program at the University of Ottawa.

The winning solutions

At the end of a long but inspiring day of presentations, the judges thanked all participants for their efforts and collaboration.

In first place, they noted a presentation that followed a typical journey on the OSDP, one where a user searches for data by keyword and location to answer a clearly established environmental question. Through this journey, suggestions to improve the user experience and use of OSDP data clearly came through: a traditional UX approach with directly implementable solutions, resulting in a more accessible and useful platform for a diverse range of users.

A use case based on technology came in second place. It consisted of mobile app prototype that was developed as a proof of concept to complement the OSDP. The app, Concious Planet, allows a user to define their search – for example looking at fish biodiversity in a location of interest – and push data visualization options with a variety of design features. The app can also suggest news clippings related to the area of focus from local news sources, and is already available for download on the app store!

In third place, a group presentation offered a well-executed data visualization dashboard showing susceptibility of different areas in the province of British Columbia to wildfires. The dashboard takes multiple variables affecting the spread of wildfires into account, including historic burns and current weather trends, and draws attention to the areas most at risk.

“We were very impressed by the diversity of approaches and methods applied to improving the user experience of NRCan’s Open Science Data Platform,” added Maddie Hare. “We hope all participants and attendees had fun and learned something about UX and the open data available through the OSDP, and we encourage all to keep engaging with the platform and build on the great ideas that were shared during the hackathon.”

The OSDP team at NRCan now benefits from an array of innovation solutions to consider for future releases of the platform. An all-around successful hackathon!