Civic Data Hackathon: For Techies and Non-Techies

💛 Interested in using technology for social good?

We're hosting an open, online space where techies and non-techies meet, explore the social and civic problems we're facing in our communities, and see what we can do about it.

Check out the video created by community member Una Karlsen from previous in-person events: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJu_KeYvZxg!

👪 Can I join?

Yes!

Everyone is welcome, however, the following skills are often in high demand:

• Digital Designers
• Programmers
• Project Managers
• Activists
• Journalists
• Researchers and Scientists
• Students

🎺 Is anything specific planned?

We're defining two types of roles for this event:

Problem Champions ----- people who have identified a problem, and are perhaps already working on it. They don't need to know everything about the problem, but they are willing to keep discussion focused on the problem, ask and answer questions, and own a vision for what "solving" or "improving" the project looks like.

Contributors ----- people bringing their skills and awesomeness and want to contribute to making something better. They will help Problem Champions by asking questions, clarifying their own (and the champion's) understanding of the problem, and see how they can help. They might be programmers, graphic designers, journalists, data analysts, project managers, students, teachers, whatever.

### Before the event...

Problem Champions should try to write down a "Problem Statement". They will be at https://hackdash.org/dashboards/cbodd2021 for everyone to find and collaborate.

If you would like help, submit your first draft to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFEC1l4hUc1V0av7Qn69xU1NLowz7x9u-w-ji5_eO_12yblQ/viewform and we will help you copy it over to HackDash above.

### On the day...

1. We will briefly introduce how the day will work, and make sure it's clear who the Problem Champions and who the Contributors are. (one big video/audio call online)

2. We will do a couple of rounds of speed dating! We will pair up each Problem Champion with a number of Contributors - this is a chance for random Contributors to ask questions and get more detail about the project, and perhaps discuss some possible things that could help (a video/audio call online per Problem Champion)

3. Contributors can then join a video call with the Problem Champion they want to work with for the rest of the day

If you're not sure what to do, you can join the big central call at any time and we'll help.

📚 Helpful Resources

• Read about Civics: https://www.civicsacademy.co.za

• Learn how your municipality is managing your taxes: https://municipalmoney.gov.za

• See what the national and provincial government are working and spending on: https://vulekamali.gov.za

• Learn about your representatives in parliament: https://pa.org.za

• See what parliament has been up to: https://pmg.org.za