Code Grant Competition

Acting as your internal start-up, we address pain points and help you capture opportunities. Let us work together to take your not-for-profit to the next level. We will focus on behind-the-scenes systems that will increase efficiencies and allow you to focus on what you do best – serving your community. Our experienced staff have developed systems to work within complex technology systems. We implement, test, and deploy solutions safely and quickly, maintaining the high productivity required to meet today’s not-for-profit requirements.

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Overview

MERAK Systems Corporation is committed to giving back to the community. We have a history of participating in fundraising initiatives and providing free development time to not-for-profits and charities. In-kind development time was donated on an informal basis with great success, which led to us to launch the MERAK Code Grant Competition.

MERAK is seeking a not-for-profit organization or registered charity located in Canada who is in need of technical guidance. The ideal project would solve a critical technical challenge for your organization where the solution is unachievable internally. Some examples:

  • Automating repeatable, administrative tasks.

  • Transforming manual processes into digital processes.

  • Connecting separate technology systems to provide a seamless user experience.

  • Providing the community with critical information through a public dashboard.

  • An application for community members to provide and/or retrieve important information.

The grant will cover up to $10,000 of professional services time toward the creation of a finished solution or a working prototype. Often with cloud technologies, the solution inherently comes with additional fees such as licensing or cloud service fees which will not be covered by the grant. We will work with the winning organization to provide a solution that fits within their financial constraints.

Timeline

  • Competition deadline is July 31, 2021.

  • Shortlisted organizations will be contacted directly and may be required to present to a selection panel.

  • The grant project will begin early September 2021.

Recent Project

WellWiki provides data for over 4.3 million oil and gas wells throughout North America. Its goal is to provide to the public a comprehensive database tracking production and environmental data, news, and history on the estimated 5.8 million wells drilled in North America.

As a professor of strategy, entrepreneurship and management at the University of Alberta School of Business, while researching oil and gas activity in North America, I realized that it was difficult for the public to see drilling activity in their town or neighbourhood. In 2014, I launched WellWiki to provide free user-friendly access to information on wells that have been permitted or drilled in Canada and the United States.

MERAK Systems Corporation generously provided technical expertise and advice to develop a WellWiki API that will allow us to provide the public with even greater access to the WellWiki data. I do not believe I could have found a better technology partner. The team at MERAK Systems Corporation provided a practical approach that focused on the needs of the project and they were a pleasure to work with from start to finish. The result is a great piece of functionality that I would not have been able to accomplish without them.

Joel Gehman

well wiki

Code Grant Application Form

Those interested in applying are asked to complete an online form to tell us about your organization and project.

Apply Now