Stories from Technology for Transparency Network
Hackathons in Droves: How is a Hackathon Organised?
In the following guest article, J.J. Merelo, Doctor in Physics and Professor at the University of Granada, Spain, tells us of his experience organising educational hackathons in light of the regional Hackathon, "Developing Latin America 2012 "which will take place next December.
Latin American Youth Against Corruption
Andrea Arzaba shares a video where she interviews Latin American youth leading projects in favor of transparency and accountability. These young leaders participated in the Third Global Voices Against Corruption Forum, organized by the Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network (GYAC) in Brasilia, Brazil on November 5 and 6.
Brazil: Rio de Janeiro Demands Better Sanitation
The initiative Sanitation is Basic, launched by the nonprofit organisation Meu Rio, has served as a slogan for the increase in online campaigns owing to popular online pressure created by citizens and social movements in Rio. According to the organisation, "half the population in Rio de Janeiro is still without mains water and sewerage."
What Exactly is a Hackathon? And What is Open Data?
We previously announced the next hackathon for Latin America: Developing Latin America 2012. But it's likely that some readers are not sure what a hackathon is or above all, what it's for. Here we try to answer those questions with definitions, examples, and two video interviews with Argentinian hacker Mariano Crowe.
Ukraine: Technology for Transparent Elections
Amidst mounting allegations of the ruling party's use of administrative resource during election campaign, the government has pledged to keep the Oct. 28 free and fair. Local election monitoring groups, however, have been utilizing new technology to ensure electoral transparency and to check governmental pledges for themselves.
Chile: #LosQueSobran Campaign to Pull Youth to Polls
A group of Chilean NGOs have come together in a fun campaign to encourage young people to vote in the Municipal elections this Sunday, October 28. For the first time in Chile, voter registration is automatic and the vote is voluntary.
Portugal: Citizen Digital Activism
The atmosphere of growing indignation lived in Portugal in face of austerity measures, imposed by government at the command of the troika, has served as the trigger for more and more initiatives that bring new takes on the potential of digital media in the service of citizens.
Indonesia: Anti-Corruption Agency Gets Online Support
The power of social media was once again affirmed in Indonesia when internet users collectively expressed their support to corruption investigators who are being harassed by the police and some politicians.
Zambian Watchdog Website in Jeopardy
The government of Zambia has threatened to de-register the online investigative site, Zambian Watchdog. In May 2012, the Watchdog reported that its website was a target of a sustained attack allegedly by the government after visitors to the site were met with “page not available.”
Developing Latin America 2012
The regional hackathon Developing Latin America, organised by Foundation Ciudadano Inteligente (Intelligent Citizen) in six Latin American countries, brings together multidisciplinary teams of designers, developers, entrepreneurs, journalists and citizens that want to find solutions to problems such as poverty, healthcare and education, using technological tools.
Venezuela: Election Day Tweets and Hashtags
Twitter has been the most popular citizen media platform to discuss the presidential election of Sunday, October 7, 2012. Under different hashtags occupying the Trending Topic list in the country, Venezuelans comment, discuss, debate, report and share.
Russia: Crowdmapping Corruption with Bribr Mobile App
Bribr is a newly-launched iPhone/iPad app that allows anonymous users in Russia to submit the locations and the amounts of the bribes they pay. Later, it will be possible to report on the bribes taken as well.
Collaboration on Crowdsourced Mapping in Venezuela
A lot of people will be Tweeting, Facebook updating and texting about the presidential election in Venezuela this weekend -and many will be using social media to share reports of violence or misconduct. A few enterprising citizens have set up systems to catch and save these reports.
Egypt: Introducing the MorsiMeter
After 32 years of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has a new president and a new application to monitor the performance of its newly elected president Mohamed Morsi and the progress in the achievement of the 64 main promises he made during his election campaign.
‘Developing Latin America': Open Data Projects
The 'Desarrollando Latin América' (Developing Latin America) competition, a public hackathon for creating technological solutions to education, security and budgetary problems in six countries in the region, took place on the 3rd and 4th of December. Juan Arellano, who acted as a judge in Lima (Peru), summarises the results and the reactions from the participants.
Slovakia: Visualising Business Registry Data with Vorsr.sk
Vorsr.sk is a tool for visual exploration of Slovakia's business registry. It treats the information as one big social network, grabbing the newest data live and delivering up-to-date connections of searched for individuals. This interview features the project's Co-founder Michal Habala.
Slovakia: Checking Politicians’ Facts With Demagog.sk
Demagog.sk is a Slovakian web project that aims to analyze politicians' claims based on facts and ensure they are correct and used in the right context.
Poland: Open Government Data Camp 2011 and the Future of Open Data
At this year's Open Government Data Camp in Warsaw, "you could talk to techies, members of transparency-oriented NGOs, journalists, social activists, government officials, EU Commission representatives and so on." Jakub Górnicki reports.
Egypt: Catch the Former Regime Remnants
Last April, an Egyptian court ordered the dissolution of the political organization that ruled the nation for decades. Its members are however reinventing themselves, joining the lists of candidates vying for November's parliamentary elections. See how netizens have joined hands to expose them.
Ada Lovelace Day: Inspirational Women in Action
Ada Lovelace Day aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and maths by encouraging people around the world to talk about the women whose work they admire. Read about Global Voices' tribute.
Global: Online Dialogue on Technology for Transparency
The Technology for Transparency Initiative, together with New Tactics in Human Rights, invites you to join an online dialogue on 'Using Technology to Promote Transparency'. Join us to discuss new ideas, challenges, risks, and opportunities.
