On the 8th of December Smogahton 2019 Data Hackathon with the use of data ended – it was the fifth event that aimed to fight the smog using technology. The prize pool was 125 000 PLN. This year, the action was joined by the authorities of the city and voivodeship, who made their databases available.

Smogathon 2019 was a 24-hour hackathon, i.e. a meeting of people who faced the challenges connected with air pollution for a certain period of time. The participants based on a wide range of databases provided by Airly, IMGW (Institute of Meteorology and Water Management), GIOŚ (Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection), Marshal's Office of the Malopolska Region, European Space Agency, European Commission and Statistics Poland. Public databases were also available to them.

This year's challenges for participants were prepared by category patrons, including Krakow Smog Alert, IMGW, Marshal's Office of the Malopolska Region, City of Krakow and GIOŚ (Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection), i.e. institutions that have a chance to implement projects that were created during Smogathon.

Despite the fact that project participants focus on the problems of Krakow and Malopolska, the solutions developed are universal, as evidenced by an international interest in the event.

The event was attended by a total of about 170 people who came to the event from all over Poland and Europe. Participants were supported by mentors from i.a. Google, IBM, Airly, GSK, IMGW, GIOŚ, UMWM and the Air Quality Department of the Krakow City Hall.

Participants in Krakow Technology Park

Awards were given in the following categories:

1. Industrial Pollution Control (category patron: Marshal's Office of the Malopolska Region) – Qubit Team: Design of a platform for reporting information on industrial accidents.
2. Identification of Pollution Sources (category patron: Krakow Smog Alert) – AI Embassy Team: An innovative method of analyzing pollution data using satellite data and artificial intelligence.
3. Transportation Emissions Management (category patron: Krakow City Hall) – Gremlins Team: Improving the transmission of information on planned street cleaning and secondary emissions.
4. Health Effects of Air Pollution (category patron: Practical Medicine) – Fine Tuned Team: Access to information on weather conditions and related health effects combined with motivation to change one's lifestyle.
5. Pollution Monitoring & Forecasting (category patron: IMGW) – Brain Power Team: Method for verifying air pollution sources.

The awards were presented by the Deputy Marshal of the Malopolska Region Tomasz Urynowicz and the Deputy Mayor of City of Krakow for Sustainable Development Jerzy Muzyk.

the Deputy Marshal of the Malopolska Region Tomasz Urynowicz, the Deputy Mayor of City of Krakow for Sustainable Development Jerzy Muzyk, and Wojciech Przybylski the Chairman of the Board Krakow Technology Park

Moreover, Krakow Technology Park has donated an award of a total of 60 000 PLN for the implementation of the platform proposed by Qubit Team.

Allegra awarded Smog Wawelski Team for their holistic approach to accessing information on air pollution with a special prize of 15 000 PLN.

‘We are glad that the methodology adopted by us met with an interest and brought such interesting results. We want to solve existing problems and aim at eliminating air pollution using the small steps method. We hope that the results of the work of Smogathon 2019 participants will be used. Of course, they still need some refinement, but they have a lot of potential.’ - says Kamila Knap, co-founder of Smogathon.

The partners of the event are Allerga, GSK, Krakow Technology Park, City of Krakow, Marshal's Office of the Malopolska Region and Google Cloud.