Amadeus partners with KAYAK for "What the Hack" hackathon in Boston

BOSTON, April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Challenging the technology status quo and drinking copious amounts of coffee are sure to rule the day at the "What the Hack" hackathon, April 25^th-26^th in Boston, hosted by KAYAK and sponsored by Amadeus.

During the 24-hour event, technology professionals and students (18+ years old) will gather to solve complicated tech problems and design innovative applications. Up to $20,000 in cash and prizes will be up for grabs and one qualifying group of hackers will be granted a three-month incubation period at KAYAK's Technology Headquarters in Cambridge.

WHEN: Saturday, April 25^th at 4:00pm to Sunday, April 26^th at 4:00pm ET
WHERE: KAYAK offices, 10 Canal Park, Cambridge, MA

Participants will have the opportunity to tackle the technology challenge of their choice across four broad categories – Data, Design, Innovation and Travel. Projects will be evaluated for their design and engineering merits as well as overall creativity. "What the Hack" will also feature half-hour workshops and Q&A sessions conducted by KAYAK and Amadeus engineers where participants can pick up tips and tricks on next level design, JavaScript tools, travel application programming interfaces and more.

"KAYAK is growing and we are always looking to meet local talent. This event gives us the opportunity to welcome the tech community into our new office in Cambridge and have fun together while solving complex challenges," said Giorgos Zacharia, chief technology officer, KAYAK, the world's leading travel search engine. "At KAYAK, we place a high value on real-time innovation and speed – making a hackathon the perfect venue for networking."

Participating teams will be judged by notable Boston area technology leaders including:

• George Kassabgi, former CEO of Bit9
• Panos Panay, founder/CEO of Sonibids
• Giorgos Zacharia, chief technology officer, KAYAK
• Murray Mazer, head of Global Innovation, Amadeus

"As a leading technology partner to the global travel industry, Amadeus shares a mutual goal with KAYAK of fostering technology innovation and talent which will ultimately serve to shape the future. As a long-standing technology provider to KAYAK, and with our significant Research & Development presence in the Boston area, we couldn't be more pleased to be sponsoring and participating onsite in this event," said Mazer.

A technology partner since 2006, Amadeus has provided KAYAK with advanced global search capabilities. In 2012 Amadeus and KAYAK announced a global, multi-year strategic alliance whereby KAYAK expanded the use of Amadeus' airline fare and availability technology in its efforts to provide the most comprehensive and accurate flight search results for KAYAK's global websites and mobile applications.

And hackathons are definitely part of the culture at Amadeus. Amadeus teams have participated in and won several hackathons over the years, and recently hosted the first Amadeus hackathon in North America.

For full details on rules, prizes, event schedule and to sign up to participate, visit http://wth.kayak.com.

Notes to the editors

Amadeus
Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail, ferry operators, and car rental companies etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies).

The Amadeus group employs around 10,000 people worldwide, across central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations), as well as 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organizations globally.

The group operates a transaction-based business model.  For the year ended December 31, 2014 the company reported revenues of €3,417.7 million and EBITDA of €1,306.0 million.  Amadeus is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange under the symbol "AMS.MC" and is a component of the IBEX 35 index.

To find out more about Amadeus please visit www.amadeus.com, and www.amadeus.com/nablog for more on the travel industry.

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KAYAK
KAYAK is the world's leading travel search engine. The company's websites and mobile apps allow people to easily search hundreds of travel sites at once for flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages. Each year, KAYAK processes more than one billion searches for travel information and has local websites and mobile apps in more than 30 countries and 18 languages.  KAYAK is an independently managed subsidiary of The Priceline Group.

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SOURCE Amadeus

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