2023 EU-EaP
Civic Tech Acceleration
Hackathon

The EU-funded “Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility” project seeks to unleash the potential of digital technologies in order to contribute to improved transparency and accountability in the EaP countries, as well as in order to address the concrete needs of communities, and/or lead to the improvement of public services.

The 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon continues the best traditions of the 2017-2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathons and opens the new phase of the annual hackathons for civil society. It will bring together around 45 civil society activists, IT professionals and graphic designers from six EaP countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – and the EU Member States to enhance existing prototypes of digital solutions addressing the needs of communities, helping citizens to better hold their governments to account and/or leading to the improvement of public services in their home countries. Hackathon participants will get support and advice from a multidisciplinary team of guest speakers and mentors, with proven experience in civic tech initiatives, IT start-ups and consulting companies.

The 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon will be held online. 

Considering its objective, applications to the 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon are accepted only from teams with an existing prototype of a civic tech solution and with a minimum set of technical skills to work on its enhancement.

To help you better understand the hackathon and the application process, we are hosting an Information Webinar on Tuesday, April 18, at 13:00 CET (Brussels time).

This webinar is an excellent opportunity to ask us (the organisers) any questions you may have about the hackathon and the application process. We will also explain how the applications will be reviewed and selected, so you can better understand what we will be looking for in your application.

Date: April 18, 2023

Time: 1:00 PM CET (Brussels time)

Location: Zoom webinar

How to join: REGISTER HERE

We know that applying to our Hackathon can be a daunting experience, especially if you’re new to it. That’s why we’ve put together some frequently asked questions to help you understand what we mean by a prototype, who can apply, what kind of team you need and what civil tech solutions we can support. Check them out below and submit your prototype of civic tech solution by April 24, 23:00 CET!

1. What do you mean by ‘prototype of a civic tech solution’?

A prototype is the first model – or even the first release – of your civic tech solution. It may be mock-ups in Figma or any other front-end design app, a basic no-code prototype you put together with website or mobile app builders (e.g. Wix, Tilda, Weebly, WordPress, etc.), a working prototype hosted on your development server, or the first release of your product that you want to improve. 

2. May I apply with the prototype developed within a previous EaP Civil Society Hackathon?

Absolutely! The only exception is the winners of our previous hackathons.

3. I am an EaP Civil Society Fellow. Am I eligible to participate in the Hackathon?

Our Fellowship and Hackathon programmes are not mutually exclusive. So, if you have a prototype of a civic tech solution for the EaP countries and a team to help you at the Hackathon, we are thrilled to get your application!

4. Why do I need a team to participate in the Hackathon?

During the 4 weeks of the Hackathon, you will be working on improving/enhancing your prototype under the guidance of your mentor. Your mentor’s recommendations for improvements may vary from better targeting to concept revision, but in most cases, they will involve some work on the product design and functionality, and you will need some help to implement those changes. While there will be IT professionals and designers joining the Hackathon individually, we cannot guarantee you will find an expert with the exact skills you need, or that he/she will be interested in your civic tech project (yes, life is unfair).

5. How many team members do I need to have?

There is no maximum limit for the number of team members, but as a minimum, a team shall consist of two persons, and at least one of the team members must have technical skills to make the required changes to the prototype, as agreed on with your mentor. This is what is described as ‘a minimum set of technical skills to work on the prototype enhancement’ in the Hackathon Guidelines.

If you have questions not answered here, write to us at [email protected]. We will reply within 24 hours!

Still have doubts if your prototype is eligible for participation in our 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon? Our hackathons welcome all civic tech projects from the Eastern Partnership countries. Civic tech (or civic technology) means instruments and services that develop civil society, simplify communications between citizens and governments, and engage the public in solving important problems.

Here are some hints, and if you reply 'yes' to all the questions, send us your application until April 24!

• You have a prototype of an IT product and a team (it's okay if it is only you and one more person).
• This IT product is not-for-profit and contributes to solving a social issue in at least one EaP country (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova or Ukraine)
• The proposed solution foresees two-way 'user-system' interaction.

We also tried to visualise potential areas of applications of such solutions in this infographic:

Need some more inspiration? Check what solutions were prototyped by the participants of the 2017-2020 Hackathons and our Civic Digital Fellows!

We return with the fifth edition of the EaP Civil Society Hackathons, and invite civic tech enthusiasts from the EaP countries to register for our 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon to boost their civic tech solutions from prototypes to products!

The 2023 Hackathon will be held online on 12 May – 10 June 2023. It will be focused on enhancing existing prototypes of digital solutions designed by civic tech teams from the six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In the best traditions of start-up accelerators, 15 teams of civic tech projects will work with mentors and IT professionals & graphic designers from EaP and EU to improve their prototypes and compete for the 2023 Civil Society Digitalisation Award, a special facility to support the full-fledged development and launch of one (or more) civic tech solution proposed by the 2023 Hackathon participants.

The expected average amount of support per winner is EUR 10,000; up to EUR 12,000 may be awarded on an exceptional basis.

Who Can Apply:

We welcome applications for the 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon from:

• Teams with an existing prototype of a civic tech solution and a minimum set of technical skills to work on its enhancement from the EaP counties, and
• Technical experts – IT professionals and graphic designers – from the EaP and the EU counties interested in helping the Hackathon teams with their prototypes.

Technical experts (developers, designers, data experts, QA experts, product owners, business analysts, etc.) selected within this Call for Applications will be able to join any existing team of their choice, complementing the team’s skills with their knowledge and experience.

Applications from grassroots activists and young tech professionals are encouraged. More details.

What Prototypes Can be Supported:

The 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon seeks to unleash the potential of digital technologies and looks for prototypes of civic tech solutions that helps to improve transparency and accountability in the EaP countries, address the concrete needs of communities, and/or lead to the improvement of public services. This includes such areas as e-participation, e-transparency, open data, citizen mobilisation, citizen-to-citizen services, civil society transparency & accountability, and more.

The proposed civic tech solutions may cover one or several of the areas. They must foresee strong ‘user-system’ interaction and must be used by citizens of one or more EaP countries. For more details, read the Guidelines for Applicants.

How to Apply:

To apply for participation in the 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon please register here. The deadlines for submission of applications:

• If you apply on behalf of your team with a civic tech solution prototype, please apply before 24 April 2023!
• If you are an IT professional or a graphic or web designer interested in helping the teams, please apply before 1 May 2023!

Please see the key dates of the 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon below:

Digitalisation for Civil Society Award:

On the final day of the 2023 EU-EaP Civic Tech Acceleration Hackathon, the teams will present their improved prototypes to the Hackathon organisers, mentors and other participants, who will evaluate the proposed civic tech solutions. Up to 5 top-scoring prototypes – the Hackathon finalists – will be nominated for the 2023 Digitalisation for Civil Society Award, a special facility to support the full-fledged development and launch of the best solution(s) of the 2023 Hackathon participants. Based on the applications received, the Award Selection Committee will choose one or more of the nominated civic tech solutions for support with the development and launch.

Check some videos and photos from our previous Hackathons and visit our IDEA BANK for some ideas of digital tools developed by the Hackathon participants and Civic Digital Fellows.

It may be summer and the weekend, but first Saturday of August was really busy for all participants and mentors of the 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon. The 16 hackathon teams worked day and night for the last three weeks with designers, IT experts and mentors to develop the prototypes of mobile applications, online games and platforms to solve a wide range of problems in the Eastern Partnership countries.

On August 1, the team had their final pitches and the project team, mentors and other participants voted to select ideas of digital solutions to be nominated for the Digitalisation for Civil Society Award. So, we are happy to share with you the 7 teams nominated for the Award (teams will still need to work hard to get it):

• SURDO Info: mobile application for people with hearing limitations by Ekaterina KHOMENKO & Roman KHARCHUK from Ukraine (Design & IT: Alexey Kostrzhytskyi, Ukraine, and Mariam Komakhidze, Georgia).
• Transparent Maternity Ward: feedback-based platform on maternity clinics by Yevgeniya KUBAKH from Ukraine (Design & IT: Javid Abbasov, Azerbaijan, and Soso Jalagonia, Georgia).
• SaveUs: crowdfunding platform for volunteers helping stray animals by Yuriy KUKHALSKIY from Belarus (Design & IT: Palina Pliskouskaya, Belarus, Khatuna Shaveshova, Georgia, and Aliaksandr Yarmolenka, Belarus)
• Outside Labour Protection: feedback-based platform for monitoring labour conditions in industrial enterprises by Aleksey SERYH from Ukraine (Design & IT: Olga Panco, Moldova, and Daria Aksionova, Ukraine)
• No Bread Waste: web and mobile app connecting HoReCa, logistics companies, animal shelters and volunteers by Marianna MARSHALENKO from Ukraine (Design & IT: Nikolay Korolyov, Belarus, and Aleksandr Badoyan, Georgia)
• Donor ONLINE: platform for current and future blood donors and blood recipients by Roman SANDU from Moldova (Design & IT: Daria Aksionova, Ukraine, and Tsimur Samoilau, Belarus)
• DeepForest: platform for monitoring illegal tree cutting by Ostap YEDNAK from Ukraine (Design & IT: Igor Aleksiyuk, Ukraine, and Nastassia Zenovich, Belarus)

Nominees will have two weeks to develop their technical proposals and budgets and submit their applications for the Award. The best solution/-s will be selected for the EU funding for full development and launch.

Waste management website and educational environmental game, services for using cashback for charity, online solutions to help stray animals, health trackers and apps for blood donors, platforms for work safety and budget transparency monitoring, apps for people with hearing limitations and people in need, and more – 16 project ideas from six EaP countries selected for 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon!

In 2020 we received 78 applications from civil society activists with ideas seeking to improve the life of communities and people in the EaP countries. 32 ideas were shortlisted and invited to the Online Regional Ideathon – an incubation meeting for civil society activists bringing them together with hackathon mentors to work on their projects.

For two weeks civil society activists worked online with the mentors to improve and further develop their ideas, and now 16 of them were selected for the next stage: Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon that will be held in July.

From the 9th of July on, 16 civil society activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will work with 32 IT professionals and designers. For three weeks, technical and subject-matter experts will work together on IT solutions that would enable civil society organisations and activists better serve the needs of their communities, and help citizens participate in decision making. Hackathon participants will get support and advice from a multidisciplinary team of guest speakers and mentors, with proven experience in civic tech initiatives, IT start-ups and consulting companies. One or several of these ideas will then be selected for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Digitalisation Award, allowing for their full-fledged development and launch.

Please have a look at the list of ideas selected for participation in the Hackathon:

• Ashot Mirzoyan, Centre for Consumers Support    Armenia. Clean City: multifunctional website (interactive map of Yerevan on waste collection).
• Ilgar Taghiyev, MedNot and Spendonate start-ups, Azerbaijan. Spendonate 2.0: service for using cashback for donations / charity.
• Alena Dudkova, Young European Ambassadors, Belarus. EcoLarry: educational environmental online game.
• Yuriy Kukhalskiy, SaveUs charity project,  Belarus. SaveUs crowdfunding platform.
• Sergei Lavrinenko, Belarus Developers Community, Belarus. Baby Tracker: application for following health and development of a child.
• Alexandra Privado, activist, Belarus. Talkey: application for mental health (info +tracker).
• Mariam Sulamanidze, Charity Humanitarian Center Abkhazet, Georgia. The Helper: application informing the user’s contacts on the user being in a dangerous situation and his/her location.
• Natalia Panga, volunteer, Moldova. EatNow: application for re-distribution of food meant for utilisation.
• Roman Sandu, Healthy Future Information Centre of Tiraspol, Moldova. I am Donor! application for current and future blood donors and blood recipients.
• Ekaterina Khomenko, SURDO School, Ukraine. Surdo INFO: mobile application for people with hearing limitations.
• Yuliia Korzeniuk, GoVote Initiatve, Ukraine. GoVote: electronic voting system for student self-government and university president elections.
• Eugeniya Kubakh, Prirodni Prava, Ukraine. Transparent Maternity Ward: ratings of maternity clinics based on citizens’ e-reports and feedback of services and costs.
• Marianna Marshalenko, EaP Fellow, Ukraine. No Bread Waste: platform connecting HoReCa companies, animal shelters and logistic companies / volunteers.
• Aleksey Seryh, student, Ukraine. Outside of Labour Protection: platform for rating enterprises in terms of work safety.
• Anatoliy Shalayev, Regional Initiatives Foundation, Ukraine. Local Authorities in the Crosshair: application visualising budget allocations per infrastructure object, and e-reports.
• Ostap Yednak, FORESTCOM NGO, Ukraine. DeepForest: application that analyses where illegal trees cutting takes place using high res satellite images, AI/ML tools and official data, and notifies activists.

We are inviting IT professionals and graphic designers from the EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova & Ukraine) and the EU to join our 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon in July!

Why apply?

• You will get to apply your skills to interesting and innovative solutions that help communities and citizens.
• You will get to meet and work with a network of young people from the region and will gain new skills and understanding of civic tech projects.
• You may get new work opportunities with the teams involved in the hackathon.
• You will get remunerated for your work.
• You will have the flexibility of working online without major impacts on other assignments you might have.

What is the process?

Check the main steps and key dates of the Hackathon in our infographics.

1. IT Professionals and Graphics Designers apply for the 2020 Online Hackathon until 29 June. 
2.  Up to 30 developers and designers shortlisted by July 6.
3. Shortlisted developers and designers meet with the authors of 15  ideas of digital solutions selected within the 2020 Online Ideathon, at the live opening of 2020 Online Hackathon on July 9.
4. Authors of selected solutions publish their projects on Trello board on July 9-10.
5. Authors of selected solutions present live their ideas to the developers and designers on July 11.
6. Building hack teams: from the Trello board developers and designers choose the project they want to work on (until July 15).
7. The Hackathon Coordinator verifies the hack teams on Trello: one author of the project, one developer and one designer (July 15).
8.  Hack teams work on the prototypes until July 30 (Teams discussions on Slack / Individual consultations and webinars with mentors on ZOOM).
9. Prep meeting for final pitches with Hackathon Coordinator (July 30).
10. Live final pitches on August 1 and online voting for best solution. Up to top 7 solutions are nominated for funding through Digitalisation for Civil Society Award.

If you want to find out more about what our participants will be working on, please have a look at the list of ideas selected for participation in the Ideathon:  out of these ideas we will select 15 for participation in the Hackathon.

Apply until 23.00 (CET) on June 29 and become a part of the engaged civic tech community of the Eastern Partnership countries!

Questions? Send them to the Hackathon organizers at [email protected].   

As the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon goes online, we re-open the Call for Applications from IT professionals and graphic designers from EaP countries and the EU!

To apply for participation in the 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon, interested IT professionals and graphic designers need to:

• Check the eligibility criteria in the Guidelines;
• Fill in the online application form and submit it before 23.00 (CET) on June 29, 2020.

The 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon to be held in July will bring together civil society activists, IT professionals, designers, guest speakers and civic tech mentors from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the EU. The Hackathon participants will work in hack teams consisting of three experts: one subject-matter expert from a civil society organisation (CSO), one IT professional (front-end/back-end developers, web/mobile, full-stack, etc.) and a graphic designer. The IT professionals and designers in the hack teams will be formally engaged by the EU Project and will receive remuneration for their work on the prototypes.

For the first time, due to the change in format, we are now able to accept applications from IT professionals and designers from the EU Member States as well. 

We updated the 2020 Hackathon processes to meet the challenge of working with mentors and teams remotely and efficiently at the same time and to compensate the selected IT professionals and graphic designers for their work on developing the prototypes of the 15 digital solutions to be selected during the 2020 Online EaP Regional Hackathon. The updated timeline and processes are detailed in the revised version of the Guidelines for Applicants.

If you want to find out more about what ideas you will be able to choose from, have a look at the list of ideas selected for participation in the Ideathon in the previous news or here: 15 out of these 32 ideas will be selected for participation in the Hackathon.

In response to the changed environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year our EaP Civil Society Ideathon and Hackathon will be organised online for the first time, with most activities taking place over the months of June and July.

The 2020 Online Regional Ideathon, taking place from the 12^th to the 28^th of June, will help prepare the hackathon. The ideathon is meant to ensure that those ideas which are brought to the hackathon are feasible and sufficiently developed. This year through the Call for Applications for Ideas of Digital Solutions we received 78 applications with ideas for digital solutions from civil society activists: 5 from Armenia, 9 from Azerbaijan, 15 from Belarus, 8 from Georgia, 11 from Moldova and 30 from Ukraine. 32 ideas were shortlisted and will participate in the Regional Ideathon.  

During the Ideathon the civil society activists will present their ideas to the Hackathon mentors and organisers, improve their skills in designing a civic tech project, will work individually with the mentors to improve and further develop their ideas, and will prepare their final pitches. On the last days of the Ideathon, they will pitch their improved ideas to the mentors and the organisers, who will select 15 ideas for participation in the 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon.

The Call for Applications from IT professionals and graphic designers will be re-opened on the 5^th of June with a possibility to apply until the 29^th of June 2020 (Note: all applications submitted within the Call from January 31 until March 6 remain valid, and the current applicants do not need to reapply).

The 2020 Online EaP Civil Society Hackathon will bring together 45 civil society activists, IT professionals and designers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. For three weeks, technical and subject-matter experts will work together on IT solutions that would enable civil society organisations and activists better serve the needs of their communities, and help citizens participate in decision making. Hackathon participants will get support and advice from a multidisciplinary team of guest speakers and mentors, with proven experience in civic tech initiatives, IT start-ups and consulting companies. One or several of these ideas will then be selected for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Digitalisation Award, allowing for their full-fledged development and launch.

If you want to find out more about what our participants will be working on, please have a look at the list of ideas selected for participation in the Ideathon.

• Ashot Mirzoyan, Centre for Consumers Support, Armenia. Clean City: multifunctional website (interactive map of Yerevan on waste collection).
• Seda Papoyan, Girls in Tech, Armenia. She4Data: a digital hub for women and girls to master data proficiency.
• Javid Abbasov, United Aid for Azerbaijan. LovelyBeach: a platform for engaging volunteers to clear beaches.
• Ismayil Fataliyev, Azerbaijan Journalists’ Network. DEputatım: application on deputies, their activities and for communication with them.
• Ulvin Omarov, Social Innovation lab, Azerbaijan. PitchaPitch: crowdfunding and networking platform for ‘green’ projects.
• Ilgar Taghiyev, MedNot, Azerbaijan. Spendonate 2.0: service for using cashback for donations/charity.
• Alena Dudkova, Young European Ambassadors, Belarus. EcoLarry: plant your dream tree, an educational environmental online game.
• Yuriy Kukhalskiy, SaveUs charity project, Belarus. SaveUscrowdfunding platform.
• Sergei Lavrinenko, Belarus Developers Community. Baby Tracker: application for vaccination of children.
• Egor Moroz, Belarus Association of Journalists. Crypto-donations: a platform for mining cryptocurrency to be donated to charities / CSOs.
• Alexandra Privado, activist, Belarus. Talkey: application for mental health (info + tracker).
• Mariam Sulamanidze, Charity Humanitarian Center Abkhazet, Georgia. The Helper: application informing the user’s contacts on the user being in a dangerous situation and his/her location.
• Ketevani Tatikiani, Volunteer Hub, Georgia. YOUthrive: a platform for monitoring and evaluation of youth-related programmes and policies.
• Tea Turashvili, Electronic Governance for Georgia. Digital Connection: a platform for connecting vulnerable people and providers of social services.
• Cristina Jacot, Eco-Village project, Moldova. Interactive map of Chisinau.
• Olesya Lungu, Association of IT Companies of Transnistria, Moldova. IT Volunteer: crowdsourcing platform.
• Natalia Panga, volunteer, Moldova. Share Your Food: application for re-distribution of food meant for utilisation.
• Roman Sandu, Healthy Future Information Centre of Tiraspol, Moldova. I am Donor!application for current and future blood donors and blood recipients.
• Viktor Trofimenko, Putnik Centre for Social and Ecological Problems, Moldova. SOS: mobile application for rapid informing of emergency services.
• Aleksandr Galushchenko, activist, Ukraine. Bullying Protector: chatbot for bullying victims.
• Ekaterina Khomenko, SURDO School, Ukraine. Surdo INFO: mobile application for informing emergency services a person with hearing limitations needs help.
• Yuliia Korzeniuk, GoVote Initiative, Ukraine. GoVote: an electronic voting system for student self-government and university president elections.
• Eugeniya Kubakh, Prirodni Prava CSO, Ukraine. Transparent Maternity Clinic: citizens’ e-reports and feedback of services and costs in maternity clinics, ratings, information on medicines availability.
• Sergey Kulenko, ATO volunteer, Ukraine. UAditoriya: distant learning platform/course management system (CMS).
• Anatoliy Kurinniy, activist, Ukraine. Help Beacon: mobile application for emergency communications with user’s contacts.
• Marianna Marshalenko, Kyiv Cyclists’ Association, Ukraine. No Bread Waste: platform connecting HoReCa companies, animal shelters and logistic companies/volunteers.
• Kateryna Nekit, Democracy Study Centre at GPUS, Ukraine. Anticorruption chatbot: e-reports on corruption and data collection.
• Aleksey Seryh, student, Ukraine. Outside of Labour Protection: a platform for rating enterprises in terms of work safety and reporting workplace accidents.
• Anatoliy Shalayev, Regional Initiatives Foundation, Ukraine. Local Authorities in the Crosshair: application visualising budget allocations per infrastructure object, and e-reports.
• Natalia Sklyarska, Social Capital NGO, Ukraine. Tickets to Free Events: application for fundraising for social events.
• Oleksandra Smilianets, Centre for Innovations Development, Ukraine. Online public map of Land Management Transparency in Hromadas: Transparency Rating.
• Ostap Yednak, FORESTCOM NGO, Ukraine. DeepForest: an application that analyses where illegal trees cutting takes place using high res satellite images, AI/ML tools and official data, and notifies activists.

Dear friends,

We regret to inform you that following instructions received from the European Commission, all events planned during the months of March and April 2020 are postponed due to the recent outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19.

This applies to both the EaP Regional Ideathon planned to take place in Chisinau on March 13-14, and the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon planned to take place in Kyiv on April 3-5.

At this stage, we are not yet able to give information on the new dates of the events.

The results of the selection of the ideas of digital solutions submitted within the 2020 Call for Application remain valid, and the selected applicants will be informed on the new dates directly.

The applications submitted by the IT professionals and graphic designers within the 2020 Call for Applications until March 6 remain valid, and the current applicants will not be requested to re-apply. Once the new dates of the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon are identified, the Call for Applications among IT professionals and graphic designers will be reopened for new applicants for at least two more weeks.

We hope your interest in the Hackathon will not be affected by these developments which are outside of our control.

Together with the first applications for our 2020 EaP Hackathon, we also received your first questions. We are answering them here and hope they will help you prepare a great application until February 17!

Question #1: Do I need to be a member of a civil society organisation to apply for the Hackathon with a digital solution idea?

Answer: No, you do not need to, but it is good if you can demonstrate your active position as a citizen. This can be some volunteering experience, taking part in your community life, student organisations, civic movements, and so on.

Question #2: Can I apply for the Hackathon, if I live in Kazakhstan?

Answer #2: Yes, you can, but you will need to pay for your travel and accommodation. The organisers will cover expenses of the participants from the Eastern Partnership countries only: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Question #3: There is a question in the application form for activists ‘Do you have a hack team to work with you at the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon?’ Does it mean I need to have a full hack team – a designer and a developer – to apply with my idea of the digital solution?

Answer #3: No, it does not. You are welcome to apply with just an idea of a digital solution – and find a developer and a designer on the first day of the Hackathon, among those technical experts who applied independently.

Question #4: I participated in the hackathon last year, but my project idea did not win. May I apply with the same idea for the 2020 Hackathon?

Answer #4: Yes, you may, if you worked hard on your idea and significantly improved it, as compared to the previous year. Please make sure that your application reflects the changes and/or new features.

If you did not find the answer to your question either here, or in the Guidelines for Applicants, send us your questions at [email protected], or ask them on the Facebook page of the event, in the comments! We will reply within 24 hours!

Still have doubts if your idea is eligible for participation in the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon? Our hackathons welcome all civic tech projects from the Eastern Partnership countries. Civic tech (or civic technology) means instruments and services that develop civil society, simplify communications between citizens and governments, and engage the public in solving important problems.

Here are some hints, and if you reply 'yes' to all the questions, send us your application until February 17!

• The implementation of your idea requires the development of a new IT product (website, app, online map, bot, plugin,..)
• This IT product will contribute to solving a social issue in at least one EaP country (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova or Ukraine)
• The proposed solution foresees two-way 'user-system' interaction.

We also tried to visualise potential areas of applications of such solutions in this infographics:

Need some more inspiration? Check what solutions were prototyped by the participants of 2017-2019 Hackathons!

We are happy to announce that registration for our 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon is now open!

This time the Hackathon will be held in Kyiv (Ukraine) on 3-5 April 2020. It will bring together over 60 civil society activists, tech professionals and designers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to work on digital solutions and software projects that would enable civil society to contribute to reforms and democratic changes in their home countries.

For three days civil society activists and tech professionals will work together on digital solutions that would enable civil society organisations and activists better serve the needs of their communities, and help citizens participate in decision making. The best idea developed within the Hackathon will be nominated for our Civil Society Digitalisation Award and will get of up to EUR 10,000 for full development and launch.

How to Apply:

To apply for the participation in the Hackathon please register here. The deadlines for submission of applications:

• If you are a civil society activist with an idea for a digital solution, please apply before 17 February 2020!
• If you are a tech professional or a graphic or web designer, please apply before 16 March 2020!

Please see the key dates of the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon below:

Who Can Apply:

Participation is open to all citizens of EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) with strong experience of civic work, regardless of their experience in working for a civil society organisation as such.

Applications from grassroots activists and young tech professionals from across the region are encouraged. More details.

What Ideas Can be Supported:

The EaP Civil Society Hackathons accept ideas of solutions that empower the digital participation of civil society, improve the transparency of public institutions and enable broader citizen involvement in decision-making processes. This includes such areas as e-participation, e-transparency, open data, citizen mobilisation, citizen-to-citizen services, and civil society transparency & accountability. For more details, read the Guidelines for Applicants.

The proposed solutions may cover one or several of the areas and be utilised by one or more EaP country. Ideas focused on engagement and mobilization of local and grassroot communities are encouraged.

Check our Infographics on which digital solutions we can support and read the Guidelines for Applicants for more details.

2020 Regional Ideathon:

This year we will also hold our EaP Regional Ideathon three weeks before the Hackathon. The Regional Ideathon is a 1.5-day incubation meeting of civil society activists – authors of ideas of digital solutions and hackathon mentors. The Ideathon will be held on 13-14 March 2020, in Chisinau, Moldova. All shortlisted civil society activists who applied with an idea for a digital solution until 17 February will be invited to the Ideathon to present, improve and further develop their ideas. On the second day of the Ideathon, the mentors and the organisers will select 20 solutions for participation in 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon in Kyiv, Ukraine.

If you want to join us a mentor at our 2020 EaP Regional Ideathon in Chisinau (13-14 March) check here who we are looking for and apply by February 20, 2020!

Digitalisation for Civil Society Award:

On the final day of the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon, Hackathon mentors and participants will vote for the best digital tool developed during the Hackathon. Three top-scoring ideas will be nominated for the Digitalisation for Civil Society Award, a special facility to support the full-fledged development of the best tool designed at 2020 Hackathon. Based on the applications received, the Selection Committee will choose one or several nominated ICT tool ideas for development and launch.

Check some video and photos from our previous Hackathons and visit our IDEA BANK for some ideas of digital tools developed by its participants.

Are you part of a civic tech initiative in the Eastern Partnership or other European countries that helps local communities, holds governments accountable, or provides digital services to citizens? Do you have a story that will inspire others? Experience with civic tech? Then apply until the 21^st of February to join us as a mentor at our 2020 EaP Regional Ideathon on 13-14 March in Chisinau!

We, at the EU-funded ‘Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility’ project, are looking for civic tech professionals from the Eastern Partnership countries and other European countries to help participants of the 2020 EaP Regional Ideathon with better formulating their ideas for digital solutions and selecting the best ones to join the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon in Kyiv.

What is the Ideathon all about?

The 2020 EaP Regional Ideathon is a 1.5 days incubation meeting of civil society activists – authors of shortlisted ideas of digital solutions and mentors from civic tech, IT and consulting companies, on 13-14 March in Chisinau, Moldova. Shortlisted applicants will have two days to present their ideas and to work on improving them with the mentors. On the second day of the Ideathon, the mentors and the organisers will select 20 solutions for participation in the 2020 EaP Civil Society Hackathon to be held on 3-5 April in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for mentors who want to give back to the community and contribute to civic tech development in the EaP region. Our ideal mentor is a founder or an experienced team / project lead of a civic tech project, who could tell Ideathon participants about his/her projects, and help them with formulating and refining their proposed digital solutions, including deciding on the type of technical solution needed (implementation mode and features), and developing the architecture and logic of their solution.

We are looking for someone who:

• is currently working within a civic tech project in the Eastern Partnership region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) or other European countries (the EU Member States or the Balkans);
• has at least 3 years of experience in implementing and / or managing civic tech projects and/or IT projects in the spheres of e-Government, e-Democracy, e-Services, citizen journalism or open data;
• fluently speaks English and / or Russian.

How do you apply?

To apply, send us a letter of interest to [email protected] until 21 February, 14:00 CET, with a one-paragraph description and a link to your civic tech project, your role and responsibilities, and your most recent CV (in English or Russian).  

The Regional Ideathon in Chisinau is an important step in selecting the best ideas for the upcoming Hackathon. It is our chance to work with the authors and check if their ideas are worthwhile and feasible, improving them before developers and designers get to work on the code. Take a minute and check the ideas participating in the 2019 EaP Regional Ideathon here!

What is in it for you?

• You will get the chance to promote projects you care about and improve their visibility with engaged citizens from the region.
• You will have the opportunity to give back to the community and support the civic tech movement where it is needed.
• You will have the chance to work with, teach and learn from an amazing international team and mentees from diverse backgrounds and with a broad range of talents.
• You will have the occasion to visit Moldova and get a taste of this unique country! Our Project will be covering travel and accommodation expenses for all mentors.

We are happy to announce the winner of the 2019 EU Digitalisation for Civil Society Award – the Ukrainian project Interactive Map PROVIDNYK by Anna Krys from Ukraine!

Anna is concerned about the accessibility infrastructure for people with disabilities and the lack of information about opportunities they could use to enjoy life to its fullest. To address this challenge, she came up with the idea of PROVIDNYK, an interactive map for people with mobility limitations to help them find the best and safest routes in the cities of Ukraine using crowdsourced data.  PROVIDNYK addresses the problem of the quality of life of Ukrainians with limited mobility by allowing its users add and evaluate the accessibility of infrastructure objects, first in Kyiv and Odesa, and later – throughout Ukraine. It also helps consolidate the efforts of civil society, state, business and the public in building an inclusive society in Ukraine.

As a winner of the 2019 EU Digitalisation for Civil Society Award, Anna and her team got the funding to develop and launch this IT solution. As a leader of debating society in her country, she also has support from Debate for Changes NGO and Debate Federation of Ukraine.

“In Ukraine, 90% of ramps are installed incorrectly and, in general, the infrastructure is not intended for people with limited mobility at all. I think it’s unacceptable to ignore the fact that thousands of people are locked inside their apartments only because we close our eyes to this problem and don’t demand any changes. With the project I’d like not only to collect data, but also to show to our government that Ukrainians really care about this issue and that together we should move this situation off the ground. On top of that, speaking about diversity & inclusion, it’s not popular here, in EaP countries. But this dialogue should be started. And better sooner than later,” says Anna.

Read more about PROVIDNYK, check the first prototype of the PROVIDNYK application and watch Anna’s video about the 2019 Hackathon!

Digital solutions for cleaner environment, better health and accessibility for all – these were the three ideas nominated for the Digitalisation for Civil Society Award by the participants and mentors of the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon.

Olga Tereshchenko from Odesa (Ukraine) came to the Hackathon with the idea of a tool that would collect complete and verified data on gluten-free drugs, products and services - GLUTEN FREE ASSISTANT. According to the World Health Organisation, up to 10% of European population face some health problems associated with gluten consumption with 1% of them suffering from celiac disease. While both groups need a gluten-free diet, the latter has to adhere to the most rigorous diet type for the entire life – in Olga’s own words, ‘even three breadcrumbs can be life-threatening.’ In Ukraine, there are 420,000 people with severe gluten allergy, many of them have no idea about their condition until it is too late. At the same time, there is no single information resource available in Ukraine where verified, reliable and relevant gluten-related information could be obtained.

Anna Krys, our second nominee from Ukraine, is concerned about accessibility infrastructure for people with disabilities and the lack of information for such individuals about opportunities they could use to enjoy life to its fullest. The current level of accessibility solutions in Ukraine effectively excludes individuals with disabilities from social life and political processes happening in the country. “In Ukraine, 90% of ramps are installed incorrectly and, in general, the infrastructure is not intended for people with limited mobility at all,” says Anna. To address the challenge, she came up with the idea of PROVODNIK, an interactive map for people with special needs to help them find best and safest routes, enjoy more active lifestyle and ultimately, spur development of inclusive urban infrastructure. The map will also allow users to mark locations without necessary inclusive infrastructures, rate accessibility of places and send in automatic requests (problem reports) to government bodies to solve the problem.

The problem of separate waste collection is rather relevant for all Eastern Partnership countries and, not least of all them, Belarus. Seeing the problem as a matter of education, Polina Pliskovskaya from Minsk (Belarus) is trying to solve it with RUBBISH, an online game to teach children how to care about the environment and responsibly deal with garbage sorting. A survey carried out in Minsk revealed three main problems: lack of motivation to separate waste collection; lack of awareness; and poorly developed urban infrastructure. Polina says, “I personally really care about ecology and waste recycling, but unfortunately not everyone is like me. That’s why we decided to create an educational game app where kids and adults could learn how to do waste sorting – and be motivated for it! Our Monster Rubbish is hungry and gloomy, he is waiting for somebody to feed him garbage by making check-in near the trash box…help us to let the monster go out from the rubbish bin!”

One of these three projects will get the EU support to be fully developed and launched. The winner will be announced in July 2019.

Background information:

The 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon was the third hackathon in a series of annual events by the EU-funded “Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility” project. This year the Hackathon was held in Tbilisi on 14-16 June in partnership with the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency.  Over 70 civil society activists, designers and IT experts from Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will gathered in Tbilisi for three days to create digital tools to enable civil society organisations and activists better serve the needs of their communities and help citizens participate in decision making processes in their countries. Participants worked on 20 project ideas to design and create web and mobile applications for healthy life, e-transparency services, educational online games for kids, crypto currency online platforms, websites for analysis of open data, interactive maps for communities’ needs, crowdfunding and crowd-sourcing platforms and modules, etc.

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 Belaruswants 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 Rent: 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
• Provodnik: interactive map on accessibility of public spaces in Odesa

Dear friends! The deadline for submission of ideas of IT tools for the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon is extended till Monday, 6 May, 18:00 CET. You still have time to submit your idea of an innovative, but realistic, project, which offers a solution to a real social issue in their region or city.

We are looking for ideas which work on a local level and address a real problem, or offer a new opportunity for citizens to engage with social issues or a decision-making process in their community.

As promised, we publish answers to the questions you asked us (Organisers’ Team) by email or at the Facebook page of the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon.

Question #1: Can I apply with an idea of online game on social entrepreneurship?

Answer #1: Yes, you can. Gamification is very efficient in raising public awareness on socially important issues, and in educating people on complicated topics. Please submit your idea until April 29, 23:00 Brussels time.

Question #2: Can I apply for the Hackathon, if I live in Russia?

Answer #2: Yes, you can, but you will need to pay for your travel and accommodation. The organisers will cover expenses of the participants from the Eastern Partnership countries only: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Question #3: What is the prize of the Hackathon?

Answer #3: The winner of the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon will be awarded with up to EUR 10,000 for the full development and launch of his/her solution within the next 6 month after receiving the Award.

Question #4: Do I need to have a full hack team – a designer and a developer – to apply with my idea of the digital solution?

Answer #4: No, you do not. You are welcome to apply with just an idea of a digital solution – and find a developer and a designer on the first day of the Hackathon, among those technical experts who applied independently.

Question #5: Can I apply in Russian?

Answer #5: Yes, you can, as the working languages of the Hackathon are English and Russian. Besides, there will be simultaneous interpretation (English-Russian) at all activities within the event. You can find the online application forms in Russian here.

Question #6: I participated in the hackathon last year, but my project idea did not win. May I apply with the same idea for the 2019 Hackathon?

Answer #6: Yes, you may, if you worked hard on your idea and significantly improved it, as compared to the previous year.

Question #7: The organisers pay for the travel and accommodation of the Hackathon participants. Is it possible to get a return ticket not on June 17, but a couple of days later?

Answer #7: Yes, if its price is equal or less to the price of the ticket on June 17. Please remember that the organisers cover your accommodation in Tbilisi only until noon on June 17, so you will need to take care of your accommodations afterwards.

You may send your questions to [email protected], or leave them in comments at the Hackathon Facebook page. Deadline for submitting you ideas of IT solutions is April 29. See you in Tbilisi!

Still not sure which idea you want to submit for our 2019 Hackathon? Here are some hints for you: we are looking for ideas of solutions that empower citizens to keep an eye on public services and institutions, that improve citizen engagement in decisions that matter, that fill the gap in services porvided either by the state or by civil society orgnisations.

Need some more inspiration? Check what solutions were prototyped by the participants of 2017 and 2018 Hackathons!

Registration for our 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon is now open!

The Hackathon will be held in Tbilisi (Georgia) on 14-16 June 2019 and will be hosted by the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency.  It will bring together over 60 civil society activists, tech professionals and designers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to work on digital solutions and software projects that would enable civil society to contribute to reforms and democratic changes in their home countries.

For three days civil society activists and tech professionals will work together on digital solutions that would enable civil society organisations and activists better serve the needs of their communities, and help citizens participate in decision making. The best idea developed within the Hackathon will be nominated for our Civil Society Digitalisation Award and will get support of up to EUR 10,000 for full development and launch.

How to Apply:

To apply for the participation in the Hackathon please register here. The deadlines for submission of applications:

• If you are a civil society activist with an idea for a digital solution, please apply before 29 April 2019!
• If you are a tech professional or a graphic or web designer, please apply before 26 May 2019!

See below the key dates of the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon:

Who Can Apply:

Participation is open to all citizens of EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) with  strong experience of civic work, regardless of their experience in working for a civil society organisation as such.

Applications from grassroots activists and young tech professionals from across the region are encouraged. More details.

What Ideas Can be Supported:

The EaP Civil Society Hackathons accept ideas of  solutions that empower the digital participation of civil society, improve transparency of public institutions and enable broader citizen involvement in decision making processes. This includes such areas as e-participation, e-transparency, open data, citizen mobilisation, citizen-to-citizen services, and civil society  transparency & accountability. For more details, read the Guidelines for Applicants.

The proposed solutions may cover one or several of the areas and be utilised by one or more EaP country. Ideas focused on engagement and mobilization of local and grassroot communities are encouraged.

What’s New in the 2019 Hackathon:

This year we will hold our first EaP Regional Ideathon three weeks before the Hackathon. The Regional Ideathon is a 1.5 day incubation meeting of civil society activists – authors of ideas of digital solutions and hackathon mentors. The Ideathon will be held on 24-25 May 2019, in Kyiv, Ukraine. All shortlisted civil society activists who applied with an idea for adigital solution until 29 April will be invited to the Ideathon to present, improve and further develop their ideas. On the second day of the Ideathon, the mentors and the organisers will select 20 solutions for participation in 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Check some video and photos from our previous Hackathons and visit our IDEA BANK for some ideas of digital tools developed by its participants.

On 1-3 June 2018, the EaP Civil Society Hackathon gathered in Minsk 67 civil society representatives, IT professionals and designers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to work on software projects that would enable civil society better contribute to reforms in their home countries. For over two days the participants worked in hack teams of 3-4 persons on data research, ICT tools design and prototyping with the support of 11 mentors.

As a result of this intensive work, 20 project ideas designed by the civil society activists were worked through and turned into the prototypes of IT tools and solutions: web platforms, accountability tools, online and mobile applications:

• Friendship Dictionary – online application to help journalists of online media reduce hostile language towards various minorities (gender, migrants, people with disabilities, etc.)
• HelpingHands – web-platform connecting volunteers and volunteer organisations
• Bezoman – platform for exchange of unbiased opinions: a website where all controversial topics are presented with opposite opinions
• NGO Dashboard – accountability tool to increase transparency of state-supported NGO programmes
• Doika – module that helps to gather funds for NGO activity
• Capital construction (Budget Eaters Monitor) – module to the Open Budget Platform on capital construction
• Deputat.by – service to increase transparency of activities of current and future people’s deputies
• Cancer Surveillance – a bot that offers tools for cancer preventition, collection of medical data and forming the statistics
• e-Activist Guide – website for people looking for e-Participation tools
• Food for All – web platform to sell food products with limited expiry date with the aim to raise awareness on problems related to mass disposal of food products.
• Mobility for All – Web Platform and mobile app to provide accessible mobility and transport routes for people with disabilities (PwDs) who have mobility difficulties – limited physical disability and wheelchair users.
• e-Participation for Budget Planning – a website and mobile app that allows citizens to have a direct impact on decision making in terms of allocation of public or municipal money
• WomanFire – mobile application for women to alert and report about sexual harassment cases in Azerbaijan
• LandsMap – interactive map for managing community lands to ease the process of land acquisition for local farmers
• EduPRO – mobile application for students mapping the problems in educational institutions with the system of anonymous alerts
• CityLights – mobile application to allow citizens identify and report problems with light illumination in Chisinau
• HelpIdea – platform to search for investors and present investment projects for local authorities
• Quack Hunter – game platform to hunt down fake news in the Eastern Partnership countries
• Lib4You – service for fast and easy search of libraries and rare books in libraries of Ukraine
• Klakson – mobile social platform for pedestrians and drivers.

Following the voting by the participants and the independent jury four ICT tools – ProCancer chat bot, Friendship Dictionary, Doika module and Lib4You – were nominated for the EU Digitisation of Civil Society Award, a special facility that seeks to support the full-fledge development of the best

ICT tool designed by the Hackathon participants. The nominees were invited to apply for the Award within the Restricted Call for Applications in June 2018.

Background information: The European Union is committed to supporting civil society in Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, including through the support in the development of ICT tools for transparency, accountability, digital participation and public services. As a part of these efforts, in 2017-2020 the European Union’s Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility project organises a series of EaP regional hackathons. A Hackathon is a collaborative interactive workshop resulting in the development of software solutions that can be used by civil society actors to address specific social issues.

The EaP Civil Society Hackathons also aim to facilitate the establishment of long-term cooperation between local civil society and IT community that would results in developing new ICT tools to empower digital participation of citizens, to improve transparency and communication of governmental decisions and spending, to enable broader participation in decision making process and to advance public services.

That was not an easy job, but the Hackathon Selection Committee has selected 20 ideas of ICT tools to participate in 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon in Minsk. These are two projects from Azerbaijan and Georgia each, three ICT tool ideas from Armenia and one IT solution from Moldova. Activists from Belarus and Ukraine were the moist creative: six projects were selected to participate in the Hackathon from each country.

Now we are inviting IT professionals and designers from EaP countries who are concerned about social issues in their home countries and want to join us in Minks to help with the projects:

• e-Reporting services for students and drivers
• interactive maps of community lands, street light, and capital construction
• Interactive budget of public financing for CSOs
• mobile apps for women, people with disabilities, people in need and for cancer surveillance
• online non-discrimination and anti-hate speech verification facility
• fake news hunter mobile game
• crowd-funding and crowd-sourcing platforms and modules, etc.

If you live and work in an EaP country and want to help with the implementation of one of these ICT tools ideas with your coding and/or design skills, register for Minsk Hackathon until 14 May! The organisers cover your travel and accommodation in Minsk.

How does 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon work?

The Hackathon partners 60 activists with IT professionals and designers in teams of 3-4 persons for an intensive 2.5 days of project research, design and creation. Guest speakers and mentors from activism and technology will hold master-classes for all participants and offer guidance on how to improve their products. During the Hackathon each team will develop a prototype of their product. On the last day the teams will pitch their ideas to the entire group, and the best three projects will be invited to apply for Digitalisation for Civil Society Award from the European Union’ EaP Civil Society Facility project to kick-start their initiative.

2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon / 1-3 June 2018 / Minsk, Belarus: What it is about and why to participate?

EaP Civil Society Hackathon was launched to support civil society of six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – through the development of ICT tools for transparency, accountability, digital participation and improvement of public services. This initiative is funded by the European Union through its Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility project. Learn more!

If you have some doubts about what hackathon is, here is the simplest way to check – on Wikipedia: “A hackathon … is a design sprint-like event in which computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers, project managers, and others, often including subject-matter-experts, collaborate intensively on software projects…with a goal to create usable software.”

For our EaP Civil Society Hackathon we decided to bring together the IT world and the civil society to work on social ideas through IT solutions. The IT people are pretty sure what they are going to do at the hackathon, but if you a civil society activist check our brief guide on why you need to be there and what you will be doing:

If you are not sure if the EaP Hackathon is for you, here are five reasons why you should participate:

1) Help your community through digital solutions!

EaP Hackathon gives you a chance to implement innovative ideas offering solutions to real social issues in your community, city or region! If you are a civil society activist with a bright idea that can be implemented through IT tools – apply and we will help you to bring your idea into reality. If you are an IT-guy/girl or a web/graphic designer – apply to help civil society activists to make your country a better place for citizens and impact people’s lives.

2) Get new knowledge & support from experienced mentors!

You’ll learn many things: how to create successful Smart City projects and how Smart Budget works; how make open data work for communities and what to do if there are no open data available. You will finally learn what blockchain and human-computer interface is, and much more.

Our mentors from social initiatives, IT and consulting companies will bring a lot of practical cases to share and will help you to improve your projects! Get a chance to learn from experience of Isaac Mao (Musicoin Project, USA), Anton Perkin (FusionWorks, Moldova), Serhiy Loboyko (Center for Innovation Development / Kyiv Participatory Budget, Ukraine) Aleksey Ivankin & Darina Danilenko (Opendatabot, Ukraine), Alina Radacynskaja (Open Data Belarus, Belarus), Gleb Kanunnikau (Functional AI, Belarus), Iryna Velska & Vladimir Ivanov (‘EaP Civil Society Facility’ EU Project). Read more about our mentors.

3) Meet new people, find new friends and have fun!

We will bring together 60 civil society activists, IT professionals and designers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, – and you will certainly like them! So, this is your chance to find new members for your teams, meet like-minded people and make new friends. You can spend up to 24 hours a day working on your idea with these people, so we are pretty sure you’ll get a lot of fun! So, EaP Hackathon is a right place to build networks, learn from other people and share your own ideas!

4) Enjoy free travels, accommodation and food – all included!

Participation in the Hackathon is free! If your idea is selected for participation in the EaP Hackathon and you live outside of Minsk, we will cover your travel costs and accommodation. Plus, free food and snacks for everyone!

5) Get a chance to win an Award!

After three days of intensive work the teams will present their demo projects, and everyone will vote to select the best ICT tool ideas. Three top-scoring ideas will be nominated for the EU Digitalisation for Civil Society Award and get the opportunity to win funding for full development and launch of the ICT tool. In 2017 it was a participatory urban development platform from Minsk. Try to get it in 2018!

You are about to submit your idea for the EaP Hackathon but still have some questions on how it will work in practice? Here are some of the basic facts to check:

Application process:

If you are a civil society activist – apply with your idea before Monday, 30 April, 2018, 12.00 CET.

If you are an IT professional or a graphic designer – apply before 14 May 2018.

The application is open both to individuals and hack teams. Hack teams may consist of maximum 3 persons, and include at least 1 subject-matter-expert and 1 IT professional / designer.

Read the Guidelines for Applicants before submitting your application and register here!

Content of ideas of ICT Tools:

You can submit an idea of IT-tools and solutions that help civil activists serve needs of communities, and help citizens participate in decision-making, for instance: public monitoring of budget execution, election monitoring, citizens reporting, crime mapping, interactive mapping, citizen journalism, environment monitoring, etc. But it’s to you to decide how it will be implemented technically – as a web-solution, mobile application or a bot. Check our infographics to see what ICT tools are eligible for participation!

On spot in Minsk:

The Hackathon will start on 1 June at 12:30 and will last until 19:00 of 3 June 2018. The Hackathon venue will be open to participants 24 hours. It will be very comfortable to work there: you will get unlimited internet access, working spaces, stationeries, security, lunches & dinners, and tea, coffee and snacks. You may stay overnight at the venue (if you bring your own sleeping bag, of course), but we will arrange and pay for hotel accommodations for all participants outside of Minsk. Be sure to take your own laptop with all software installed!

You will team up with other people to create a hack team of 3-4 persons (a civil society activist with a project idea, 1-2 IT professionals and a web/graphic designer) to work on something really cool and useful for your community.

Demo time:

After these three-days rush your project will be finally ready to be showcased! Hack teams will present their project to participants and mentors of the Hackathon on 3 June, in the afternoon. There is no need to prepare a special presentation. You will need to demonstrate the maximum ready-to-go prototype of your solution and clear vision of how this IT-product will work.

Selection of winners:

The hackathon participants will vote for each IT-tool except of their own and will assess the tools according to 4 criteria: innovation, impact, sustainability and replication potential. Mentors and organisers will count the total scores, and authors of the three top-scoring IT-tools will be invited to apply to the EU-funded project for the financial support for the full-fledge development and launch of the IT-tool.

Check the Hackathon rules and eligibility criteria and read our FAQs in the News section.

We keep publishing answers to the question emailed to the Organisers’ Team of 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon.

Question #1: May I submit an idea under implementation to the Hackathon?

Answer #1: Yes, you may apply for the Hackathon with an ICT tool idea you have already started working on.

Question #2: Why is it necessary to provide home address during the registration?

Answer #2: For two reasons. Firstly, residency in an EaP country is one of the eligibility criteria. Secondly, if your application is selected for participating in the Hackathon, the organisers cover your round trip to Minsk (Belarus) from the address indicated in your application form.

Question #3: When a team is applying with an ICT tool ideas, do the technical experts (the designer and the developer) need to submit their portfolios?

Answer #3: No, if a team applies for the Hackathon, the technical experts of the hack team do not need to submit their portfolios, as they will be working with this very team, and it’s up to the team to decide if their competences meet the team’s needs.

You may send your questions to [email protected], or leave them in comments at the Facebook page of 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon. Deadline for submitting you ideas of ICT tools is 30 April. See you in Minsk!

Dear friends,

The deadline for submission of ideas of IT tools for 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon is extended till Monday, 30 April, 2018, 12.00 CET. You still have time to submit your idea of an innovative, but realistic, project, which offers a solution to a real social issue in their region or city.

We are looking for ideas which work on a local level and address a real problem, or offer a new opportunity for citizens to engage with social issues or a decision-making process in their community.

Use the opportunity to join the team of innovators in social technologies at 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon in Minsk!

The deadline for submitting your ideas of ICT tools is 30 April, 2018.

IT professionals and designers may apply until 14 May, 2018.

How does 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon work?

The Hackathon partners activists with IT professionals and designers in teams of 3-4 persons for an intensive 2.5 days of project research, design and creation. Guest speakers and mentors from activism and technology will hold master-classes for all participants and offer guidance on how to improve their products. During the Hackathon each team will develop a prototype of their product. On the last day the teams will pitch their ideas to the entire group, and the best three projects will be invited to apply for Digitalisation for Civil Society Award from the European Union’ EaP Civil Society Facility project to kick-start their initiative.

As promised, we publish answers to the question emailed to us (Organisers’ Team).

Question #1: How much does the participation in the hackathon cost, and are there travel grants?

Answer #1: Participation in 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon is free, and the organisers cover travel and accommodation of successful applicant outside of Minsk.

Question #2: May I submit a website of an organisation to the Hackathon?

Answer #2: Applicants may submit ideas of IT-tools and solutions that help civil activists serve needs of communities, and help citizens participate in decision-making. It includes active interaction between your IT product and its future users. For instance, public monitoring of budget execution, election monitoring, citizens reporting, crime mapping, interactive mapping, citizen journalism, etc. But it’s to you to decide how it will be implemented technically – as a web-solution, mobile application or a bot.

Question #3: May I apply for the Hackathon if I am not a citizen of an EaP country?

Answer #3: 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon is designed to facilitate the advancement of civil society in the EaP countries by developing and deployment of IT tools for citizens and activists of six countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In future, the proposed IT solution shall be utilized by residents of one (or more) of these six countries, and be supported by a local community or civil society. If an applicant is not a citizen but lives and works (resident) of an EaP country, he/she may apply for the Hackathon. In this case, the Organisers may ask for prove of his/her residency in the mentioned EaP country.

Question #4: What is the working language of the Hackathon?

Answer #4: All members of the Organisers’ Team and all Hackathon mentors and speakers speak English and Russian, next to their native language(s). So far, we consider both Russian and English as working languages of the Hackathon, and will make sure that if a participant does not speak one of the languages, there will be translation available for presentations and speeches. However, when working in groups – hack teams – members of the team may decide themselves what language they would like to use, as they come from all six EaP countries.

Question #5: I am an EaP Civil Society Fellow / have applied for EaP Civil Society Fellowships for Young Leaders. May I participate in the Hackathon?

Answer #5: Yes, of course. Participation in the Fellowship Programme or any other activities of the Project does not prevent you from applying for 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon.

You may send your questions to [email protected], or leave them in comments at или оставлять их в комментариях на the Facebook page of 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon. Deadline for applications is 23 April. See you in Minsk!

The registration for 2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon opens in a couple of days, on Monday, 9 April 2018, and in the meanwhile, check out what ideas of ICT tools are eligible this year!

2018 EaP Civil Society Hackathon accepts ideas of ICT tools that empower digital participation of civil society, improve transparency of public institutions and enable broader citizen involvement in decision making processes. This includes such broad areas of e-Democracy and e-Government as e-Participation, e-Transparency, open data solutions, citizens mobilisation, citizen-to-citizens services, CSO transparency & accountability and so on. Possible topics may include public monitoring of budget execution, election monitoring, citizens reporting, crime mapping, interactive mapping, citizen journalism, and many others. If you have not found your topic in the list, suggest it!

For more details read the Guidelines for Applicants and check what ICT tools have participated in 2017 Hackathon.

We are looking forward to your ideas!

On 25-27 November 2017, the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility and the Prague Civil Society Centre held the CitizenLab 2017 Hackathon in Kyiv, Ukraine.

33 young civil society activists, designers and IT experts from 11 countries (6 EaP countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – plus Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) gathered in Kyiv for a three-day immersive exercise to develop their ideas of civic projects and create prototype tools and applications to empower digital participation of citizens in the decision-making process.

Three days of intensive international collaboration on research, data collection and design culminated in development of 11 prototypes of web interfaces, portals, interactive maps, bots and mobile applications on a wide range of topics including segregated waste collection and disposal, air pollution monitoring, development of public spaces, police monitoring, territorial planning and mapping, participatory budgets, sex education for teenagers etc.

At the end of the event, a jury voted to select four projects from the EaP countries to apply for the EU Digitisation of Civil Society scale-up funding scheme. One of the four will have the opportunity to win additional funding from the EU’s Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility for its further development. Projects from Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine were shortlisted.

The objective of the CitizenLab 2017 Hackathon was to empower digital participation of civil society in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to improve transparency of public institutions and to enable broader citizen involvement in decision making processes. The Hackathon also contributed to sharing good local e-Democracy practices between civil society activists and provided an opportunity to build professional networks between civil society activists and IT experts and promote cross-border cooperation. The event was organised by the Prague Civil Society Centre with the financial support of the European Union through its Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility.