This year, in order to keep supporting this growth, IFTM TOP RESA is launching new events especially for business travel decision-makers: the AFTM & IFTM Business Travel Night, the Marco Polo Grand Prize and the IFTM Hackathon by CDS group, which is clearly focused on the business hotel sector.
IFTM TOP RESA launches the first business travel hackathon in France
The IFTM Hackathon is back for 2019. It was launched in 2017 and has been very popular on the leisure tourism segment. CDS Group is the official Hackathon partner this year, providing its expertise and giving participants access to its know-how and APIs.
This is the first hackathon in France focusing on the B2B hotel market, and the event jury will be made up of industry professionals including buyers, IT managers, consultants and experts.
The IFTM Hackathon by CDS Group presents an opportunity to bring business hotel bookings into the portfolio of French Tech, a movement supported by the French State and business leaders. The goal for CDS Group, an independent French player, is to put its innovative technology on the world map of business travel technology.
For 24 hours non-stop, participants will work to develop their projects using the CDS Group business hotel marketplace, and produce a prototype application for travellers based on CDS technology but providing one or more additional services to clients or users of the group’s solutions.
They will have to comply with the 4 criteria that have been scrupulously followed by developers of the CDS API: productivity, interoperability, reliability and simplicity. More than criteria, these are principles on which the various teams will be judged. Response times, comprehensiveness of data, new features and traveller services are all aspects of technology for companies and business travellers that will be at the heart of this challenge.
“CDS Group interfaces are open to external programmers and have taken on a central role in a global digital economy, offering a very efficient way of giving companies and corporations a strategic and competitive advantage. The very concept of the API is based on non-negotiable values: exchange, transparency and compliance with standards and protocols,” underlines Ziad Minkara, CDS Group Managing Director.
24-hours on the clock
The concept: a 24-hour non-stop web development hackathon during which project leaders have to design an innovative solution for the business travel sector of the future.
Teams of engineers, developers, salespeople, students and workers will put to work their ingenuity and creativity to compete to develop applications, websites, projects and developed concepts.
It all kicks off on Tuesday 1 October at 2pm, and the hackathon will run to Wednesday 2 October at 2pm. Judges will visit the teams during the event and award an initial score out of 10.
During the final, from 3pm to 5pm on Wednesday 2 October, each team will present its solution to the jury and the audience. The judges will award a second score out of 10, in order to determine the top 3 most innovative ideas.
The final will round off the first day of the International Business Travel Days (JIVA) in the Agora hall of IFTM TOP RESA, in the heart of the TECH ZONE and close to the Business Club.
A 4-stage hackathon
• Stage 1 – Team registrations from Monday 24/06/19 to Monday 16/09/19,
• Stage 2 – Publication of teams in the media, mid-September,
• Stage 3 – Tuesday 1 October at 11 am: reception of participants at the trade show,
• Stage 4 – Wednesday 2 October: hackathon ends at 2pm followed by pitches,
For more information and rules: https://www.iftm.fr/fr-fr/programme/evenements.html.
Top 3 Winners and Prizes
The judges will select the top 3 most innovative ideas for a prize:
• 1st Prize: €5,000 and an R&D partnership from CDS Group,
• 2nd Prize: €2,500,
• 3rd Prize: €1,500.
The audience votes live for the work they think is best:
“Audience Favourite” Prize: a trip for members of the team (between 4 and 5 people).
“Following the success of the first two hackathons, IFTM TOP RESA is bringing it back and taking it further in 2019, with a switch from 100% leisure travel to 100% business travel! IFTM TOP RESA is the leading trade show on the French travel market, and is always looking to pioneer research on new concepts. At the heart of the Tech Zone, around twenty teams will have 24 hours to develop the most innovative project on the selected theme, with the aim of transforming the trade show with digital technology and revolutionising the travel industry. The teams will have just a few minutes to present their 24 hours of work to a panel of expert judges and a demanding audience. The IFTM Hackathon is all about adrenaline and amazing projects led by teams full of energy and driven by a disruptive approach that is opening the doors to change in our wonderful industry. Joining us in this new challenge is a beautifully bold gesture from CDS Group!” says Frédéric Lorin, IFTM TOP RESA General Manager.
For Ziad Minkara, CDS Group Managing Director, “Listening, anticipating and investing to move the market forward while meeting the needs of our clients is what CDS Group is all about. This is part of the group’s DNA, and is what led us to develop an API called CDS Open Solution – the business hotel marketplace launched in early 2019.
For CDS Group, this hackathon is a foundational event. The goal is get a fresh, external perspective which is disconnected from the daily issues that CDS developers face. Participants will get the opportunity to show off their expertise and talent with a view to joining the CDS Group R&D programme.”
ABOUT CDS Group
CDS Group is the French specialist in booking solutions and services related to centralized hotel services. CDS Group has unique expertise in optimizing procurement, reducing costs by up to 30% in this area.
CDS Group offers a complete range of solutions and services to business hotels. Its marketplace serves the needs of Corporate clients, Agencies and Public Administrations. CDS BOOKING manages all hotel bookings with solutions that are innovative and unique on the market.
The “CDS Network” is built around an open and dynamic ecosystem of strategic partnerships for the benefit of our customers and a 100% development methodology compatible with services and innovations in the sector. www.cdsgroupe.com
