Sabre driving a faster pace of innovation in travel with hackathon and Sabre Dev Studio developer tools

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – July 17, 2014 –Sabre Corporation is hosting a hackathon to challenge developers to create apps that could revolutionize the travel industry. The hackathon, to be held on Aug. 1-2, is a 24-hour, non-stop challenge for developers to use Sabre’s new APIs along with other open technology providers in order to create a working application prototype. Built on a patent-pending shopping platform, Sabre’s new mobile friendly, sub-second response time shopping and intelligence APIs enable developers to build new capabilities for the travel industry. First prize winner will receive $15,000 in cash and credits for use of Sabre APIs. Developers can register at the Sabre Dev Studio site. “The travel industry is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the world economy, generating nearly $7 trillion in annual spend last year, and the industry is expected to grow by four percent this year alone. The hackathon is a great opportunity for developers to learn and participate in this fast growing industry,” said Greg Webb, president of Sabre Travel Network. “Coming on the heels of the Sabre Dev Studio launch, this hackathon is another step in our vision to help drive fast-paced innovation for travelers and travel companies.” Sabre is proud to partner with Tnooz, a leading travel technology news source, and LaunchDFW, the leading Dallas/Fort Worth technology start up and entrepreneurship news provider, to promote the event to developers. Judges for the competition are:
  • Jennifer Conley – Co-founder and Vice President of Programming – The Dallas    Entrepreneur Center
  • Andrew Levi, – Founder and CTO of Blue Calypso, Inc  (OTC:BCYP)
  • Chris Roche – Principal, Business Development for Bottle Rocket Apps
  • Jake Smith – Software Engineer, Mashery
  • Ben Vinod – Chief Scientist, Sabre Corporation
The Sabre hackathon comprises four challenges for developers to choose from, each emphasizing a different opportunity based on current trends in the travel industry:
  •  ”Social Swagger” focuses on the current movement toward integrating social media and travel through technology.
  • “Travel in a Non-Travel World” focuses on the opportunity to integrate travel with other online vertical markets to create new consumer value.
  • “Mine your own business” is centered on data mining and the need for applications offering personalized solutions rather than mass market content.
  • “The API Alchemist” calls for developers to use three or more API’s in order to make a unique application or a new user experience.
“While there is a cash prize for contestants, perhaps the greatest prize is the opportunity to create an app that changes the world of travel through the use of Sabre Dev Studio,” said Webb. Developers from the US and Canada are welcome to enter the competition and teams of up to five people are permitted. Contestants are free to use any coding language or outside knowledge that they may have in order to create the best prototype possible. Judges are basing their decisions on four factors: technical quality, design, originality and how well it addresses the challenge.

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About Sabre Sabre® (NASDAQ: SABR) is a leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, such as passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, and flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, processing over $100 billion of estimated travel spend in 2013 by connecting travel suppliers to their most valued customers, the business traveler.  Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre operates in approximately 60 countries around the world. www.sabre.com  
archived data mining developers Greg Webb hackathon Sabre Dev Studio Tnooz travel travel industry travel technology