The event, held at the Creandum offices, featured a one-hour hackathon where attendees were encouraged to build new digital products using Lovable credits. The session focused on rapid development and collaborative building within the city's technology ecosystem.
During the hour-long challenge, attendees George Harsini and the author of this report developed Suru, a mobile application designed for local reporting. Named after the Japanese word for "to do" or "to make," the app allows users to capture audio, video, or photos of local events and transform them into news stories.
The developers stated that the application aims to address the decline of local news coverage. By running content through a journalism integrity check, the tool is designed to help communities document local planning decisions, school news, and neighborhood changes in approximately 30 seconds.
Although the creators are not professional software engineers, they were able to build the functional app and add additional workflows and features in the days following the event. The project highlighted the growing accessibility of development tools for non-engineers in the London startup scene.
The event was hosted and supported by a team including Sophia Nabil Gustafsson, Naomi Kellner-Read, and other members of the presenting group. Participants noted that current market conditions in London remain favorable for new builders and technological innovation.
"It's easy to capture what's happening around you (audio, video or photos), run it through a journalism integrity check, and publish a high-quality story in as little as 30 seconds!"
"Local news is collapsing. The economics are tough. So communities are losing coverage of local planning decisions, schools, neighborhood change, and so much more."