In response to concerns over the spread of the Novel Coronavirus-19, organizers of a programming competition scheduled for March 27 to 29 have turned it into a fully digital event.

WinHacks founder Noah Campbell, a UWindsor computer science student, said the change will allow competitors to participate remotely.

“Given the amount of work our team has done thus far and the number of hackers eagerly looking forward to the event, we think that becoming digital is the best possible option for us and for our attendees,” he said.

Campbell said organizers have created a fully interactive platform so that hackers can still have access to chat rooms, question and answer sessions, video and voice calls.

“Interactions will still be face-to-face but through a screen rather than in-person,” he said.

The event schedule will remain the same; all planned challenges will still take place. Prizes will be awarded virtually and participating institutions will receive swag and other handouts by parcel post.

The University of Windsor, WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation, and WEtech Alliance are among the event’s major sponsors.

Read the full notice, “Windsor’s first major hackathon goes digital in wake of COVID-19,” on the WEtech Alliance website.