On September 16, 2022, the City of Norfolk’s CivicLab hosted the inaugural Hampton Roads Datathon at Slover Library. The Datathon was organized to enhance regional collaboration around data science in a service-driven environment. Teams of two to six participants competed to see who could create the most useful project or analysis based on the theme “analyzing, promoting, and protecting biodiversity.”

Participants consisted of 16 teams including City of Norfolk representatives, organizations representing other cities, regional organizations, educational institutions, and private industries in Hampton Roads and beyond. Teams were given one week to complete their projects for presentation on the 16th.

Dr. Chip Filer, Norfolk City Manager, and Ken Pfeil, Chief Data Officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, gave opening remarks. Dr. Tim Beatley, Founder of Biophilic Cities, provided the keynote address at the event. 

Each team had seven minutes to present their projects to the judges. Ken Pfeil, Dr. Tim Beatley, and Kyle Spencer, Chief Resilience Officer of the City of Norfolk, acted as judges. Presentations were graded based on their data analysis, relevance to the biodiversity theme, creativity and innovation, and ability to be used by local organizations after the event. 

2022 Datathon Teams List and Winners

Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (1st place)
City of Virginia Beach Collaborators of Canopies and Pollinators (2nd Place)
Old Dominion University Wetlands (3rd place)
City of Norfolk IT GIS (Honorable Mention)
Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center (Honorable Mention)
Virginia Aquarium (Honorable Mention)
The Williams School
Tidewater Community College
Virginia Wesleyan University Marlins
Booz Allen Hamilton
City of Norfolk General Services
Old Dominion University Bird Biodiversity

Click here to view the sources used for the inaugural Hampton Roads Datathon.

Click here to watch a video about the inaugural Hampton Roads Datathon. 

Click here to view a photo gallery of the inaugural Hampton Roads Datathon.

Project Summaries

Click here to read some of the project summaries of inaugural Datathon presentations.

Datathon Press

Team HRPDC Places First in the Inaugural Hampton Roads Datathon
ODU Grad Students Place Third at Inaugural Hampton Roads Datathon « News @ ODU
City Earns Second Place During First Hampton Roads Datathon

2023 Datathon

Save the date! The 2023 Datathon is planned to kick-off on September 22; the in-person event is scheduled for September 29. The topic and location for the datathon will be announced later this spring. Questions? Email CivicLab@norfolk.gov.”

Save the date! The 2023 Datathon is planned to kick-off on September 22; the in-person event is scheduled for September 29. The topic and location for the datathon will be announced later this spring. Questions? Email CivicLab@norfolk.gov