[okfn-za] Open Data Hackathon this weekend

Tue Jul 31 20:39:21 UTC 2012

Hi Rufus

On 31 July 2012 16:55, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> Dear Adi,
>
> I'm really excited to see this happening :-)

We're excited too - I'm not sure how it's going to pan out but we've
received tons of expressions of interest - the invitation has been
forwarded outside of the circle of organisers and I've received emails
from random mailing lists asking if their interest groups were
welcome. From the comments we've received, it feels like the time is
ripe for open data in South Africa.

> If there is any way to
> join in remotely (e.g. via irc) please ping around the info.

We're going to be streaming the event live - there will be talks on
Friday night and a couple of informal workshops for people who aren't
actively working on problems on Saturday and Sunday Sunday. We'll be
tweeting the event as well - I'm not sure of the hashtag - I'll ask
our comms guy to post it on the website.

> Also
> perhaps we could put up a post on blog.okfn.org pre or post the event.

does this work? http://codingfordemocracy.org/announcements/

> Lastly, I couldn't help but notice that this site is running CKAN:

what else? It's got everything going for it - written in python, open
source, hosted on github and has a couple of cool real world
installations to aspire to :)
> <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/

-- 
Adi Eyal
Project Manager
phone: +27 78 014 2469
skype: adieyalcas
www.burgercom.co.za