HerHackathon – a chance to empower women in tech
This year, our "Women in Tech" (Agathe, Ivonne, Roya, Christine, Désirée, Isabel, Oksana and Jasmin) organized ING's participation in HerHackathon – a hackathon by women for women. What does this have to do with financial fairness? And why was it so important to our employees to participate?
In early July, around 200 tech-savvy women from around the world spent 48 hours developing digital solutions in Mannheim, Germany. The general gist: six companies proposed tricky challenges for the participants to solve at the event. For our employees, HerHackathon 2023 was about much more than only the joy of hacking. It was an opportunity to meet other women who are passionate about tech and share the fun of developing innovative ideas together. Plus, ING Germany was also one of the six companies that proposed a challenge for HerHackathon 2023.
“Financial Fairshare”
Financial fairness in a partnership – that was the core of the challenge proposed by ING for the participants to grapple with over the three days of the event. Without giving anything away, we can already say: the teams' solutions were terrific! But let’s focus on the challenge: What was behind it? How did the idea come about? The impetus came from Christine. When she and her husband wanted to start a family, they were looking for a solution (or a tool) to set up their retirement plans fairly: "In the process, we noticed that there was a financial imbalance due to my part-time employment." As a bank, our mission is to empower people to stay one step ahead in work and in life. With that comes the values that are always at the heart of everything we do, including issues like female empowerment, promoting gender equity and our social responsibility. All of this was reflected in our challenge for the female-focused hackathon – a best fit.
IT company with a banking license
Participating in HerHackathon 2023 was important for ING on several levels. We didn't just want to be a sponsor who provided a challenge for the participants. We wanted to position ourselves as an attractive employer and make it possible for our female employees to participate. Agathe, IT Lead, says: "As the largest direct bank in Germany, we’re associated with digitalization and innovation, but we’re not necessarily perceived as a tech employer. Our presence at the event also allowed us to network with the participants, giving us the chance to exchange ideas directly with potential female applicants. This helps us learn what our target group expects from modern tech employers and what they value." Her colleague Ivonne adds: "In addition, the ING challenge gave us the opportunity to think outside of the box together with tech-savvy women and get a breath of fresh air from their ways of approaching the topic – an inspiring change of perspective for us."
Right in the middle of it – not on the sidelines
Roya feels her participation at HerHackathon 2023 was not only worthwhile for herself personally, but also nurtured practical skills in everyone who attended: "The participants practice teamwork and improve their skills in software development. They learn to work in multidisciplinary teams to master complex technical challenges and develop innovative solutions. At the pitch, they especially learn to impress the jury by using their presentation and communication skills in a targeted manner. They practice presenting their ideas convincingly and communicating effectively with participants and jurors. Skills that will benefit them again and again as they continue to develop professionally."
Désirée and Isabel were especially impressed by the realistic goals we had set for ourselves. We wanted to formulate a task that was as practical as possible, that reflected the needs of our customers and took into account the requirements of banking IT. And they noticed we really stood behind this objective: "In order to guarantee this and to provide the participants with the appropriate support at the hackathon, we put together a team of developers within ING Germany who were available to assist the participants 24/7 with specific questions – in person or via video chat. In addition, participants were provided with a prototype that they could install on their computers and use as a basis."
A success across the board
The months of preparation and extensive effort paid off in full. This manifestation of “girl power” and team spirit was exhilarating, not to mention all the great, innovative ideas that were produced. We were also impressed by the motivation of the participants and, of course, we’re incredibly proud of our four hackathon teams. One of them was even awarded second place by the independent jury. Congratulations to the team! We’re already looking forward to HerHackathon 2024.
The ING challenge
"Are you ready to revolutionize the way we think about financial equality? Develop a platform that allows each and every individual to take control of their own finances and share financial obligations equally with their partners. Create a solution where you can calculate how different work models (full-time/part-time), tax brackets, or parental leave can affect your financial stability and your share of income. The platform should also support the equal distribution of financial obligations within households. Let's work together to create a more equitable financial future!”