The HALO was the theme of Scottish Power’s Future Energy Systems Talent Hackathon which took place in Glasgow on Saturday.

Students from some of the HALO’s education partners, including Glasgow Caledonian University and Ayrshire College, will visit Scottish Power’s HQ in Glasgow to collaborate and create innovative ideas on the HALO’s future energy systems and how businesses and residents can  Live, Work, Learn & Play at the HALO’s net-carbon zero site.

A hackathon is a term used in hacker communities for developing ideas collaboratively in a short time and recently the format has been used as a way of addressing other types of business challenges.

This includes utilising new forms of collaborative work, offering young people a unique work experience and promoting a culture of innovation.

Scottish Power, a Platinum Partner of the HALO, has adopted this format with its #SPTalentHackathon and is looking to the workforce of the future for innovation ideas on how digital and cyber skills will help shape low carbon energy systems in Tomorrow’s World.

The idea behind Saturday’s event is ‘Create, Collaborate and Connect: Can you change the world’, which invites students to show their skills in strategy, learning and innovation with different challenges and activities regarding Scottish Power as the Utility of the Future.

The HALO will be the first town centre net zero carbon energy project in Scotland, a “Community Urban Village” setting the standard for low carbon energy sites across the UK.

Marie Macklin CBE, Founder and Executive Chair of the HALO Urban Regeneration Company, said: “Scottish Power’s Talent Hackathon is a unique way of collaborating with the workforce of the future and I am so excited to see what innovative ideas these students have for shaping Tomorrow’s World at HALO .

“The HALO is proud to have Scottish Power as a Platinum Partner and we look forward to working collaboratively with them to offer young people a unique work experience and promoting a culture of innovation.

“Through the HALO’s Enterprise and Innovation Hub, we will work together with Scottish Power to create an industry leading cyber and digital training and learning facility, establishing the HALO at the forefront of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”.