Global Hack for Good: Silicon Valley

Refugees United (http://www.refunite.org) and Ericsson (http://www.ericsson.com) present Global Hack for Good to connect refugees to missing families.

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/1/9/0/event_234209072.jpeg

Do you have what it takes to help refugee families separated for years find each other again? Do you have what it takes to modify a mobile platform so that it works in a poorly connected refugee camp? Do you want to win a trip to Kenya and test your prototype in a refugee camp? Sign up for this exclusive event in Silicon Valley on 8 – 9 June 2013.

30 seats are reserved for the best and most inventive applications. We will ask you two qualifying questions when registering on Meetup.com.

THREE CITIES, THREE CHALLENGES

What happens when you ask the world’s most tech-savvy developers, programmers and designer from Silicon Valley, Nairobi, and Cairo to modify a mobile platform so that it works to collect information in the most remote areas of the world?

You get a Global Hack for Good aimed at reconnecting refugee families with their loved ones, often after many years of searching. Culminating on World Refugee Day on 20 June, 2013, this event –– the first of its kind –– rallies the global tech community around a common goal: creating technical solutions for the most disconnected families of the world. Join the #HackforGood!

BRING YOUR LAPTOP, ENTHUSIASM AND IDEAS

The number of forcibly displaced people around the world is measured now at 43 million, but it is growing due to humanitarian and environmental crises unfolding in numerous hotspots. That is why it is urgent to reconnect families who have been separated due to conflict, war, and disaster.

This event pushes the boundaries of technology, while improving the pioneering and innovative family-tracing platform www.refunite.or (http://www.refunite.org)g built by Ericsson and Refugees United.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply for the event in Silicon Valley via Meetup.com. We are looking for developers and user interface designers with an experience in open source technologies and programming languages like php and python. Experience in github is an advantage as well as a good understanding of RESTful APIs. You have a background in mobile, web or SMS. Experience in developing for emerging markets and/or low-end platforms would be great.

THE PRIZE

This Global Hack for Good will take place in Cairo, Silicon Valley, and Nairobi. At each event, dedicated developers will have a weekend to solve a technical challenge (http://refunite.tumblr.com/post/51548457064/refugees-united-and-ericsson-announce-technical) that will be judged by an expert jury including Ericsson and Refugees United representatives. The jury will select two finalists at each location. The three winners will be announced on World Refugee Day, 20 June 2013. The three winners will win a trip to Kenya, where the three winning prototypes will be put to the test in a refugee camp. This trip is planned to take place in October 2013 (date subject to change).

DATES
• CAIRO: May 31st 2013 & June 1st 2013 (https://www.meetup.com/Global-Hack-for-Good-by-Refugees-United-Ericsson/events/118593132/) (Smart Village)
• SILICON VALLEY: 8th of June 2013 & 9th of June 2013 (Runway SF, 1355 Market Street Francisco, 94103, San Francisco, ca)
• NAIROBI: 15th& 16th of June 2013 (https://www.meetup.com/Global-Hack-for-Good-by-Refugees-United-Ericsson/events/118597512/) (88mph, Ngong Road)
• June 20th 2013 (Google Hangout)

THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

We have nine technical challenges lined up for you to work on. Check them out here (http://refunite.tumblr.com/post/51548457064/refugees-united-and-ericsson-announce-technical).

BACKGROUND

Ericsson has a long-term commitment to the refugee cause and has partnered with Refugees United to develop a mobile platform form for refugees who can find missing loved ones through http://www.refunite.org . To make the platform even more accessible to refugee families, and to scale and amplify the great work that already exists, Ericsson and Refugees United will launch a Global Hack for Good, where developers, UXers and other techies are invited to invent new ideas to serve more separated families.