Do you know what mobile apps for healthy life, educational online games for kids, crypto currency online platforms and websites for analysis of open data have in common? These are just some of the ideas submitted by civil society activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine for the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon.
This year we received over 65 applications with ideas seeking to improve the life of communities and people in the EaP countries.
We shortlisted 32 brilliant ideas and invited their authors to Kyiv on 24-25 May for the Regional Ideathon – an incubation meeting for civil society activists bringing them together with hackathon mentors to work on their projects.
A dedicated cyclist and activist, Denis Romanescu from Moldova wants to make life easier for fellow bikers from Chisinau: “I came to the Ideathon with the idea of an application for cyclists – an interactive map with the cycling infrastructure of Chisinau. It will contain routes, bicycle shops and clubs, bicycle services, – all that can make life easier for cyclists. Our main goal is to promote cycling in Moldova and have a positive impact on the environment in the country. I hope I will be able to get to the hackathon to bring the map to life with the help of developers and designers.”
Young and proactive, Polina Pliskovskaya from Belarus wants to encourage people to recycle their waste and is trying to develop a game that would convince more people to start recycling: “I hope that participation in the Hackathon in Tbilisi will allow me to find an excellent team that will help me develop an application not only for Belarus, but also for other countries, as the problem of separate waste collection is a global problem and we should all be closer to Sweden with its rate of 99% of recycled waste.”
Selecting only 20 out of the 32 ideas brought to the Ideathon was not easy and there was a lot of tension in the air when the final announcements were made and… some disappointment. But in the end the projects that were selected cover a lot of different topics (from health to recycling) and approaches (from chat bots to games and crowdfunding platforms).
Our 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon will take place in Tbilisi on 14-16 June. The 20 civil society activists selected in Kyiv will be joined by 40 tech professionals and graphic designers from all over the region. By the way, this year we received almost 70 applications from IT professionals and designers who wanted to work on our digital solutions / civic tech initiatives.
Hack teams will work on prototyping the 20 proposed solutions, drawing on the experience of guest speakers and mentors, with proven experience in civic tech initiatives, IT start-ups and consulting companies.
At the end of the Hackathon all participants and mentors will vote for the best digital solutions developed. The three top-scoring ideas will be nominated for the EU Civil Society Digitalisation Award and will compete for wining up to 10,000 Euro funding for the full development and launch of the digital tool.
We are looking forward to seeing all Hackathon participants in Tbilisi very soon!
And if you want to have more details, here are the ideas we will be working on in Georgia:
Armenia
- Health application: mobile app about vaccination, screening programs, healthy lifestyle and tips for future moms
- Social Enterprise Fostering Initiative (SE Lab): web app on setting up and developing a social enterprise in Armenia, including online donations module
Azerbaijan
- Crypto Donation: online platform for raising funds (donations) in crypto currency
- SPENDONATE: mobile app enabling the allocation of the money paid for goods/services, for charity
Belarus
- Caring Lazy Control: chatbot for raising awareness about the mechanisms of cancer prevention, and self-assessment of users’ cancer risks
- Smolevich 2.0: community platform for detecting and addressing local problems
- TeenJob: web portal for young people to look for part-time employment, internships and training opportunities
- RubbiSH: education online game on separate waste collection
- MOB Community Mobilizer: mobile app for local small communities to detect and discuss relevant issues, vote for proposed solutions and ask for help
- Neighbours’ Quest: online game for mobilizing local communities for small actions
- MolaMola.by: fundraising platform for individual civil society activists and small actions (ad hoc approach)
Georgia
- It’s Never Late: mobile app for women about social services available with capacity building elements
- My Voice: online crowdsourcing platform
Moldova
- Ciclismul Urban Chisinau: interactive map of cycling infrastructure of Chisinau
Ukraine
- Transparent Lease: web platform for visualisation & analysis of open data on lease contracts for public property
- Transparent Infrastructure: web platform for visualisation & analysis of open data on publicly financed infrastructure development projects
- Busine$tep: education online game for kids on basics of entrepreneurship
- Gluten Free: mobile app for people with gluten intolerance about reasons and risks, health recommendations, gluten level in edibles, etc.
- Municipality chat bot for informing and communicating with residents of small towns, amalgamated communities, etc., on local issues
- Inclusion in Action: interactive map on accessibility of public spaces in Odesa
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