In its sixth year, DESCON 6.0 continues to explore the relationship between ecology and technology. After many hacks for water and air pollution measurement, wind turbines, and solar power technologies during previous IoT hackathons, in 2020 we delve deeper into sustainability and low-tech.
Together, let’s question how to think, act, and better design our future, our energy sources and how we look after our world. What can be done about the anthropogenic climate change impact on Earth’s geology and its ecosystems so far?
Scientists say we need negative-emissions technology to reach the pledge the world has made to keep global warming below 2℃. That means we ought to suck out the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, not just stop the flow by curbing emissions. In other words, we need to start the reverse process really fast to keep the social cost of CO2 emissions down.
Using resources in a responsible way not only helps us sustain our planet by curbing our consumerism and mass production, but challenges us to think about how to design with less while allowing for critical mass innovation.
We invite you to join us for another DESCON, this year in a new virtual format to adapt to the current global crisis. We are swapping our usual two-day in-person IoT Hackathon event for a five-day set of online keynotes, cryptoparty and 24-hour capture the flag challenge, as well as one online and one, in real life, open software and open hardware workshop.
Once again, we have lined up great international and local presenters for you to interact with, while you can also submit a lightning talk for a chance to present during the event. See the full event schedule below for more details.
We look forward to connecting with you soon and inspiring you to do more for our planet by using less.
As COVID-19 continues to disrupt the world, everything that we are used to has changed, including our lives, habits and communication. For this reason, we have decided to organise our annual DESCON IoT Hackathon virtually this year. To take care of your privacy, we have chosen BigBlueButton (BBB) as our DESCON 6.0 event platform to avoid the vulnerabilities that closed web conferencing systems may encounter.
This global crisis has helped to highlight why we must care about the air we breathe. Accordingly, we proudly present the “Air to the People 2.0” ISOC Serbia, Belgrade Chapter project, supported by the Internet Society Foundation. This project is an expansion of the citizen’s initiative to build a nation-wide open data network of sensors that help to measure air pollution and concentration of PM 1, PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles using the DIY IoT open source and open hardware device “Klimerko”, the DESCON 4.0 winning product.
On Sat, 31 Oct, you will have the opportunity to attend a workshop on “How to assemble Klimerko”, organised together with the PSSOH conference. Once installed on your window, balcony or other outdoor space, Klimerko will measure air quality in real-time. With Klimerko, we can prepare for the coming winter and protect ourselves from COVID-19, which could spread faster when high air pollution is present, especially as we spend more time in closed spaces.
DESCON 6.0 is a free event. Simply register through this link and join us for the sessions that interest you. Instructions on how to connect will be sent to all registrants prior to the event.
With every DESCON IoT Hackathon, our aim has been to create an inspiring and collaborative atmosphere through our carefully selected venues. This year, we wish to recreate this as best as we can through the following virtual rooms:
Main venue – a dedicated BBB room where all the talks and workshops will take place.
Separate BBB chat rooms – for additional networking between participants.
Discord chat room – for Klimerko makers.
Online Bar “At the End of the Internet” – Join this special BBB room and let DJ Flip take you on a journey through our galaxy. Get comfortable, grab your headset and lose yourself in hypnotic and lo-fi visualisations accompanied by sounds from our solar system and planets.
We welcome you to submit your talk or project proposal through this form by Tue, 20 Oct. If you are selected, we will inform you within 3 business days so that you have time to prepare yourself. Maybe your project is the one deserving of a new BBB room, so we are waiting for your pitch!
If you wish to help out during the event, let us know here!