The ‘Data Divas’ won this year’s Digital Greenhouse AI Hackathon, focussing on assisting older people with Artificial Intelligence.
The event, which was a part of a wider programme, and sponsored by 1st Central and University College London, saw students from Elizabeth College, Ladies’ College and Blanchelande College compete.
The winning students, Samantha Browning, Maya Machnikowski, Holly Sarre, Macie Trebert-Pond, and Issy Whitford, all attend Ladies’ College.
They developed ‘Nook’, an app designed to connect older people with family and doctors while providing medical reminders.
Paul Beasley of The Ladies’ College said he was “so proud” to see how the students collaborated, adding that their presentation “was excellent and highlights the work all our staff do to make our students fantastic orators but also digital innovators”.
“The college values rang through as I watched the day unfold: Kindness – the app design was specifically aimed at helping families who have a member suffering from dementia; Integrity – the app would work closely with local dementia charities and families as an NPO; Bravery – the all-girl multi-aged team was put together quickly and had not worked together before.”
Mr Beasley concluded: “They performed well against some very impressive opposition.”
The Information Security and IT Governance Director of 1st Central, Paul Torode described the chance to judge and support the hackathon as “a real privilege” adding that the company was “incredibly proud” to work alongside the Digital Greenhouse, which he said “plays such an important role in helping young people in Guernsey explore careers in technology and data”.
“The standard of the presentations was genuinely impressive. The students demonstrated creativity, confidence and a strong understanding of how emerging technologies, particularly AI, can be used to solve real‑world problems.
“Many of the ideas showed not only technical curiosity, but also thoughtful consideration of ethics, impact and practical application.”
Steve Grix of Meganexus, the Head of Digital Learning said: “We had a fast-paced day with five engaged and hard-working teams.
“It was incredible to see five great ideas for AI integrated apps from the teams in just five hours.
“I would like to congratulate them all for almost making it too close to call but the Ladies’ College Data Divas showed excellent teamwork and came up with a focused, simple and elegant solution to the problem.”