[okfn-za] Open Data Hackathon this weekend

Tue Jul 31 14:55:06 UTC 2012

Dear Adi,

I'm really excited to see this happening :-) If there is any way to
join in remotely (e.g. via irc) please ping around the info. Also
perhaps we could put up a post on blog.okfn.org pre or post the event.

Lastly, I couldn't help but notice that this site is running CKAN:
<http://data.codingfordemocracy.org/> :-)

Rufus

On 31 July 2012 15:13, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:
> Hi All
>
> This is a reminder of the Open Data hackathon taking place this
> weekend in Cape Town. The press release is pasted below:
>
> For Immediate Release: July 31, 2012
> Contact: Greg Solik, ODADI spokesperson
> Email: greg at nu.org.za
> phone: 083 299 7717
>
> PRESS RELEASE: R25,000 up for grabs in South Africa’s 1st
> Code4Democracy civic hackathon
>
> Do you want to use your tech skills or design talents to change South
> Africa? Digital activists, designers, developers and data journalists
> will kickstart South Africa’s open data movement this weekend at a
> 48hr hackathon in Cape Town to build web and software applications
> that will help make government more accountable.
>
> The Code4Democracy event is the first public gathering hosted by the
> new ODADI (Open Data & Democracy Initiative) coalition, and will offer
> R25,000 in cash prizes and tech support for ideas that have the
> potential to empower ordinary citizens, make government more
> transparent, or make public services more efficient and open.
>
> ODADI hopes to spark experimentation by providing access to previously
> difficult to find databases, including the national and Cape Town
> budgets, plus Service Delivery Agreements and contact information for
> constituency representatives, for participants to use as ‘feedstock’
> for their hackathon ideas. Project teams are also welcome to bring or
> source their own datasets, or to instead build digital projects that
> don’t use data and instead use crowdsourcing or other civic engagement
> strategies.
>
> Anyone who has an idea and hopes to recruit teams to build it, is
> being encouraged to post project outlines on an ideas forum on
> Code4Democracy website ahead of the event.
> The hackathon will be opened at a cocktail function on Friday evening
> with a keynote address by digital thought-leader, Gustav Praekelt, who
> will speak about the transformative  potential offered by open data.
> Social justice campaigners campaigners such as outspoken former
> national cabinet minister Barbara Hogan and health rights activist
> Zackie Achmat will kick off proceedings on Saturday and Sunday with
> short speeches highlighting ways for digital activists to make a
> difference .
>
> The initiative echos similar campaigns that have revolutionised the
> way that civic debate and public accountability works everywhere from
> Kenya and Ghana, to further north in the USA and Europe. ODADI hopes
> to build on South Africa’s early support for the Open Government
> Partnership, by inspiring a grassroots data-driven movement in South
> Africa, giving ordinary citizens the tools and information they need
> to make better informed choices about public issues.
>
> ODADI is a broad-based volunteer-led non-partisan movement, that bases
> its principles on the Constitution, and does not align itself with any
> political party or other political interest group. ODADI’s manifesto
> is available here.
>
> The Code4Democracy hackathon has been made possible via a seed grant
> from the African Media Initiative’s prototype fund for civic
> engagement, as well as through logistic support from the Open Society
> Foundation’s Money & Politics Project (MaPP) and venue and material
> support from Cape Town’s Ndifuna Ukwazi center for active citizenship.
> Other ODADI coalition members assisting with the Code4Democracy
> hackathon include HacksHackers Cape Town, the Open Democracy Advice
> Center, the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, the Right2Know campaign,
> and the Silicon Cape initiative.
>
> Code4Democracy will launch with a cocktail function at Ndifuna
> Ukwazi’s resource center at 47 on Strand, Cape Town, at 6pm on Friday,
> August 3. The hackathon itself will kick off at 9am, on the 2nd floor
> of Ndifuna Ukwazi’s resource center, on Saturday, August 4 and will
> run right through to 4pm on Sunday, August 5.
> Judging of the best projects / ideas developed during the hackathon
> will take place at 3pm on Sunday, with winners announced at 4pm.
>
> BOOK YOUR SEAT
> You can reserve your seat by registering on the Code4Democracy site
> itself, or via the G+ event page or the Facebook page.
>>> ENDS <<
> ______________________________________________________________________________________
> For further information / public comment, please call:
>
> African Media Initiative:       Justin Arenstein   |   082.374.0812   |
> justinarenstein at gmail.com
> Ndifuno Ukwazi:         Shaun Russell   |   072.111.0059   |    shaun at nu.org.za
> OSF-SA MAPP:                    Daniel Weeks   |   072.077.9727   |   Daniel at ct.osf.org.za
>
> --
> Adi Eyal
> Project Manager
> phone: +27 78 014 2469
> skype: adieyalcas
> www.burgercom.co.za
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-za mailing list
> okfn-za at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-za

-- 
Co-Founder, Open Knowledge Foundation
Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
http://www.okfn.org/ - http://blog.okfn.org/