The hackathon, organized by FENASUCRO & AGROCANA, Think Lab Brasil and UFSCar in a 100% digital environment, has the participation of more than 600 subscribers, who will develop technological solutions aimed at the management, production and new economies of the sector

CANATHON, the first hackathon exclusively focused on bioenergy, begins on Thursday (20/08), with the participation of more than 800 professionals from various areas of knowledge among registered maranalists and mentors, who promise to revolutionize the sector with proposals for quick solutions in Information Technology to problems pointed out by representatives of companies from the entire value chain of this market.

The event, held in 100% online format and which runs until August 26, is organized by FENASUCRO & AGROCANA, Think Lab Brasil and UFSCar and will have the participation of representatives from all Brazilian states, the Federal District and other countries such as Argentina, Angola and the United States.

Challenge Dynamics

Participants will be organized into multidisciplinary teams to work on IT projects that involve management, production and new business issues and situations. According to Marcos Eduardo de Oliveira, CEO of Think Lab Brazil, more than 140 teams should be formed that will present the proposals to an Advisory Board, formed by some of the most renowned representatives of the bioenergy sector in Brazil and worldwide.

"Each team will consist of about 5 people from different areas. The first challenge of the participants will be to find their peers to make up the team and then define on which of the three pillars will work in search of a solution. During the event, they will have the support of 120 mentors who will take over 24 hours every day to meet the demands. All the work produced, exchange of information, lectures and mentoring will be carried out on a specific platform for CANATHON", says Oliveira.

The teams will have a deadline of about 52 hours, between 18h Friday (21) and 22h Sunday (23) to perform the five stages that include the formation of multidisciplinary teams, immersion (identification and knowledge of the problem), ideation (generation of ideas), prototyping (transformation of ideas into something tangible) and solution (delivery of the final solution).

"Teams do not need to be online all the time and will be free to choose the solution that will be developed, to organize their schedules, activities and relays to fulfill the steps within the stipulated deadline," oliveira says.

Each member of the Advisory Board will receive a video, a presentation and a report with descriptions of the proposed solution that should be evaluated between Monday (24) and Wednesday (26) with attribution of notes and their considerations.

On Wednesday, 26, from 18h, will take place the closing ceremony through an online broadcast, which will present the three winning solutions. "In addition to the winners, the other solutions delivered will be supported by Think Lab Brasil to become startups for the sector. The proposal is to present the other solutions at FENASUCRO & AGROCANA 2021, when we will also hold the second edition of CANATHON", says Oliveira.

Profile of participants

Marcos points out that participants are focused on the bioenergy and business sector, data science, developers and marketing. The profile also reveals that about 39% of the participants have a postgraduate or doctorate in their area of activity, 31% are undergraduate, 21% are students and 7% have a technical course. The participants are from public universities such as USP, UFSCar and several companies in the bioenergy sector.

What's to come next?

Among the solutions to be presented, the CEO of Think Lab Brazil believes that they should contemplate situations such as crop simulations and data analysis to help managers make decisions, climate analysis and maintenance cycles with Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, as well as proposals that can envision new markets and uses for sugar and alcohol, commercialization of surpluses or identification of CBIOs. "We listened to companies from all Brazilian states and made a compilation of the main problems in order to contribute to the development of the sector," oliveira says.

Paulo Montabone, Director of Fenasucro & Agrocana, explains that the event has an original character by showing that it is possible to generate innovation for the bioenergy market at a relatively low cost. "Efficiency through the use of data and information, the "famous" data driven, can lead to low-cost solutions for managers across the chain to more assertively address new opportunities, including renewable energy in this context. It is important to always remember that our sector is avant-garde in technology and Fenasucro & Agrocana reinforces its purpose of presenting innovation and being a showcase for solutions through CANATHON, which will strengthen the competence of the Brazilian market to export national solutions to bioenergy plants and industries worldwide", he says.

Market

For Daniel Rossi, CEO of Capitale Group and founder of ZEG (Zero Emission Generation), CANATHON will contribute to the market to know new technologies and ideas, besides being an excellent tool for exchanging experiences and creating promising businesses.

"Although Brazil plays a prominent role in ethanol production and consumption, the biogas market is still incipient in Brazil and has the capacity to add a lot of value. Innovating is the soul of the bioenergy market. The professional who wants to work in this market must be attuned to trends and new technologies, be disruptive, creative, flexible and be prepared to err a few times before getting it right", says Rossi.

According to Maurício de Menezes, Tactical Marketing Manager at John Deere, events such as CANATHON provide a great opportunity to insert companies and people into an environment that stimulates innovation and allows the emergence of disruptive ideas for the bioenergy sector.

"John Deere is a company committed to providing advanced products, technology and services to producers, increasing the efficiency of Brazilian agriculture and helping in the mission of feeding the world in a sustainable way. When we think about making renewable resources, such as bioenergy, a business opportunity, we have already taken important steps in identifying points of improvement and how to make our venture more profitable and responsible. We still have a lot of potential to improve the efficiency of the bioenergetic system with a lot of technology. For example, we are innovating the market from the development of the CH 950 sugarcane reaper, created especially for the Brazilian market and which has important differentials for the sugarcane segment, such as the two cutting lines working simultaneously, also bringing a reduction in soil compaction by up to 60%, and a 30% reduction in fuel consumption", says Menezes.

Aperture

This Thursday, the 20th, during the first week of digital content of FENASUCRO & AGROCANA TRENDS, there will be a meeting of several personalities from the entire bioenergy market chain to discuss the impact of innovation for the sugar-energy sector, from 4 pm. More details by link https://bit.ly/3iVLlCM.

Then, from 18hs, the challenges of CANATHON, live and with the opening of big names, which will welcome the maranators and mentors. To follow up, access from 18h, by link https://bit.ly/31bS59S.