Last weekend, Flamengo was represented at Latin America's largest hackathon, Hacking.Rio. Flamengo's Vice President of Information Technology, Alexandre Pinto, and Leandro Rocha, the department's manager, participated as mentors and evaluators of the sports cluster's projects. The club also sponsored and organized the event in partnership with Morphus, which is responsible for the club's digital security and is a leading company in this sector in Brazil.

The director explained Flamengo's goals in participating in such a major event. "Flamengo is here as a sponsor, helping to develop technology, pursuing innovation and digital transformation, all to ensure the red-and-black nation is more engaged and able to participate, following the club whether in soccer, Olympic sports, or any competition it may participate in," said Alexandre.

This was the second edition of Haking.Rio. The event is based on programming marathons, known as hackathons, which are interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. They aim to bring together hackers, programmers, developers, professionals/students from various fields, business/innovation professionals, designers, and inventors in general, with the aim of enabling the development of solutions, prototypes, hardware, software, applications, and any other innovative solutions.

Participants competed in the areas of: food, construction and architecture, natural disasters, floods, landslides and fires, design, retail, fashion, culture and creative economy, e-commerce, education, energy, sports, finance, games, virtual reality, Industry 4.0, insurance, legal, longevity, urban mobility, oil & gas, health, security and defense, cybersecurity, sustainability, transportation, tourism, among others, based on challenges and separated by clusters or thematic groups.

The event began on Friday (18) with distinguished guests in attendance. Otávio Leite, Secretary of Tourism for the State of Rio de Janeiro, emphasized the importance of investing in technology to promote tourism. "Technology offers us the possibility of infinite improvements. We have many issues to address to strengthen tourism, bringing more and more people to Rio de Janeiro."

The president of Fecomércio-RJ, Antonio Florencio de Queiroz Junior, celebrated the gathering of so many people to develop solutions that foster entrepreneurship. "Commerce represents 70% of the state's GDP. Through Sesc, Senac, and Sebrae, we seek to bring training and development to Rio de Janeiro's commerce sector. Through this partnership, we aim to pass on the entrepreneurial spirit to everyone."

Armínio Fraga Neto, former president of the Central Bank, reflected on the opportunities amid the various crises the country is experiencing. "We have an economy that has failed to meet our expectations for 30 years. We have areas where the standard is excellent, but many more areas for improvement, such as healthcare, transportation, security, and education. We have several crises occurring simultaneously. Economic and political crises are linked to a social crisis, with a lack of opportunities. We must have a human perspective, one that recognizes that investing in people is crucial. We lack trust, solidarity, boldness, and a culture of merit. All of this, to me, represents opportunity."

The fact that we have a huge mass of unprepared people doesn't stop us from developing cutting-edge technologies. Technology should be seen as a way to accelerate progress. Rio has everything it needs to become a green paradise like centuries ago, but it will take work. Rio has environmental, cultural, technological, and tourism potential. It's part of a Federation that's facing many difficulties. We must build a way out ourselves. It's crucial that people get involved. The revolution will only happen if the youngest are engaged. Brazil, despite all these difficulties, offers opportunities. And I see a reaction from society."

After two days of planning, development, and execution, the sports cluster presented projects to encourage the visibility and representation of women in sports, integration tools between the public and authorities for reporting incidents, an app with an immersive experience, gamification, and a virtual tour of the Fla Memória museum, automation projects for new athlete selection processes, expansion of the exclusive content experience, mapping of new talents with registration of schools, colleges, teachers, and educational institutions, and expansion of talent mapping through integration with low-performance teams.

The winning team was Rock Base, which presented a proposal to engage students, teachers, and educational institutions through an app featuring physical and mental training programs and monitoring and coaching for young talent. The team, in addition to winning first place in the sports cluster, also placed third overall. The Arcanjo team was the overall winner of the event, with an innovative proposal for first aid and triage in hospitals, designed to reduce treatment times and improve process quality. Second place went to the Meu Lugar team, which developed a technological proposal to encourage tourism in the state's countryside.

The second edition of Hacking.Rio came to an end early Sunday evening (20) with a big party. Flamengo, in addition to continuing to support the event, is already planning to hold its own hackathon in 2020, calling on talent from across the country to think about digital solutions for the red-black nation.