Ladies’ College students hack their way to victory at the Digital Greenhouse

The Hackathon, which is part of the Digital Greenhouse’s Digital Innovators Programme sponsored by 1st Central and in partnership with University College London (UCL), saw five teams from Elizabeth College, Ladies’ College and Blanchelande College tackle a real-world community challenge: how to ensure the older members of Guernsey’s population are cared for and not isolated. 

They had just five hours to come up with an answer, using AI and assisted by expert mentors, with the final presentations judged by Innovate Board Member and local tech expert Katie Inder, Head of Digital Learning at Meganexus Steve Grix, and Cyber, Information Security and IT Governance Director at 1st Central, Paul Torode, with additional support from manager of the Digital Greenhouse, Estelle Moseley. 

The winning team, the Data Divas, comprised Samantha Browning, Maya Machnikowski, Holly Sarre, Macie Trebert-Pond and Issy Whitford. They came up with a solution that provided older people with access to an AI-augmented app called Nook that allowed continual communication with family and medical specialists, offered daily reminders for medication and appointments, and ensured all personal information was kept ultra-secure.

Paul Beasley, Head of IT Curriculum and Online Safety at Ladies’ College, said: "I was so proud to see how our students worked together today to solve this year’s Hackathon challenge. 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 a NPO; Bravery - the all-girl multi-aged team was put together quickly and had not worked together before. They performed well against some very impressive opposition.”

The Hackathon assessed more than just the final pitch that the students prepared. Teams were assessed on level of tech, innovation, teamwork, quality of idea, and quality of presentation. Teams needed to use each member’s strengths to examine the issue, decide a way to resolve it, use AI tools to plan an innovative solution, and later present that solution to the judges. The day was designed to bring together creative minds to explore how AI can be used for social good.

Paul Torode, Cyber, Information Security and IT Governance Director at 1st Central, said: "It was a real privilege to support and judge the Digital Greenhouse hackathon. We are incredibly proud to work alongside a charity that 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, Head of Digital Learning at Meganexus, 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.”