Coding4Integrity

coding4integrity

African Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon

We are looking for the most talented coders to inspire us with their ideas on how tech can help fight corruption and advance peace, justice, and strong institutions!

Deadline to Apply: 27 September 2021

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About CODING4INTEGRITY

The African Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon is a virtual 4 week technology challenge organized in partnership with private and public sector organizations in five African countries, namely Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. The Objectives of the hackathon are to promote the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to prevent and combat corruption in Africa and to give young developers the chance to come up with their own ideas on how to counter corruption through technologies. The challenge will enhance public-private partnerships in the development of sustainable ICT-based anti-corruption solutions; youth engagement and employment; innovation and technology. The winning teams will have the opportunity to further develop their technology solutions with the support of the public sector partners of the hackathon that seek to increase the use of ICT solutions as part of their domestic anti-corruption efforts.

In particular, the hackathon seeks to deliver the following outcomes in the participating countries.

Increased advocacy and youth engagement in the fight against corruption

Increased youth employment, innovation and technology

Increased public-private
partnerships

Increased efficiency & effectiveness in public adminstration & service delivery

Increased transparency, accountability and accessibility to state and public services

Thematic Areas

The hackathon participants will be challenged to develop an ICT-based idea or solution that address one or more of the following themes:

Transparency in public administration, for instance, non-cash-based payments and traceability.

Transparency in public procurement and the administration of public finances.

Safe and reliable reporting of corruption (whistle-blowing promotion and protection).

Financial investigation solutions.

Other areas relevant to namely preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, and asset recovery

Who we are looking for?

The hackathon is open to young creative people who:

Awards

The winning teams will be invited to present their projects and ideas to the Conference of State Parties, which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in December 2021. The COSP will bring together anti-corruption experts from more than 180 countries and will serve as a great opportunity for the winning teams to promote and seek further support for the development of their ICT-based solutions.

We will cover the travel and accommodation for the winning teams in accordance with the our travel regulations.

How It Works

27

September

11

October

3

November

8

November

Applications Deadline

Interested participants fill an application form to participate in the hackathon by maximum September 27.

Hackathon Starts

Official Hackathon opening, welcoming participants and Q&A session with the hackathon organizers. Team formation starts aided by mentors.

Final Submissions

All teams make their final submissions on the submission platform. Teams submit their:

  • Project’s Github Repository Link
  • Pitch Deck Presentation of their Solution
  • 3-minute video demo of solution

Winners Announcement

Final winners announced, and all participants receive certificates of participation.

27

September

Applications Deadline

Interested participants fill an application form to participate in the hackathon by maximum September 27.

11

October

Hackathon Starts

Official Hackathon opening, welcoming participants and Q&A session with the hackathon organizers. Team formation starts aided by mentors.

3

November

Final Submissions

All teams make their final submissions on the submission platform. Teams submit their:

  • Project’s Github Repository Link
  • Pitch Deck Presentation of their Solution
  • 3-minute video demo of solution

8

November

Winners Announcement

Final winners announced, and all participants receive certificates of participation.

Mentorship, product development , ideation and technical webinars will be organized in the course of the hackathon.

Judging Criteria

JUDGES AND MENTORS

Our Partners

Regional Implementing Partners

Senegal

Kenya

Nigeria

Girl Voices Initiative

South Africa

Poinsed to strik

Egypt

Frequently Asked Questions

The hackathon is open to young creative people who: are between the age of 18 and 35; have basic coding skills and some experience with one or more development technologies; are nationals of Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa; have knowledge of Java, Javascript, C++, Python; are proficient in English; are passionate about using their tech skills to design digitally innovative solutions to promote integrity and tackle corruption in their countries.
Female candidates are particularly encouraged to apply for the hackathon.

Individuals or teams up to 4 members can apply. If you are an individual looking for a team, or a team looking to complete their needed skills, we encourage you to apply and we are going to help you find teammates.

Yes, the hackathon will be held in full virtual mode due to constraining COVID-19 limitations.

Your idea has to fall under one of the 5 thematic areas:

i. Transparency in public administration, for instance, non-cash-based payments and traceability.

ii. Transparency in public procurement and the administration of public finances.

iii. Safe and reliable reporting (whistle-blowing promotion and protection).

iv. Financial investigation solutions.

v. Other areas relevant to: namely preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, and asset recovery.

Each team will work in one of the following tracks based on the type of technology that the team will

create:

Track 1: Blockchain Dapp developing

Track 2: AI developing

Track 3: Web 2.0 developing

The prerequisite for taking part in the hackathon is to possess some basic programming skills. But no one expects you to be a seasoned coder in order to develop your idea. However, to impress the jury and maximize your chances to win the hackathon, we encourage you to level up your coding skills in preparation for the hackathon. This will allow you to spend less time at the event on learning how to code (which isn’t bad, as hackathons are also about learning new stuff), but instead, you will have more time to develop your ideas and skills. It will be important to build skills in one of the following coding languages: Java, Javascript, Python or C++. Other possible languages include Go, Rust, Ruby on Rails, Solidity (for blockchain apps). Resources are provided in the hyperlinks.

The objectives of the hackathon are to promote the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to prevent and combat corruption in Africa and to give young developers the chance to come up with their own ideas on how to counter corruption through technologies. The challenge will be enhancing public-private partnerships in the development of sustainable ICT-based anti-corruption solutions; youth engagement and employment; innovation and technology.

The jury will be evaluating your creations based on the following criteria:

  • How unique the idea is;
  • How well the idea was implemented;
  • How closely the submission relates to the topics and overall theme of the hackathon;
  • How well-covered the educational aspect of the submission is.
We recommend that you follow these steps to help you get the best idea:
  1. Identify one or more topics that you find interesting and that you believe are not well understood and therefore need more attention. The more passionate you are about the topic, the higher your chance is to end up with an interesting and unique idea.
  2. Get to know the topic very well. Do your research on the chosen topic(s). If possible, start your research prior to the start of the hackathon.
  3. To ensure uniqueness of your idea, research what kinds of ICT already exist that address the topics you have chosen for your project.
  4. Get inspired by other anti-corruption technologies that have been developed and aim for something that is either new or a better version of what’s already out there. Below are some examples (they are solely for giving you an idea on what other people are doing, please don’t copy them):

No, you cannot edit your submission after you have pressed the submit button and received the confirmation message. You can chat with support though to delete your submission for you so that you redo it if necessary.

As long as you don’t press the Submit button, you can access and edit your submission as many times as you need until the deadline. This is why we encourage you to not submit until your application is final.

Each team shall submit one project. No extra points will be awarded for additional submissions.

There will be one winning team per each of the five countries. The team with the highest score within each country will be pronounced the winner of the hackathon.

All participants will receive a certificate of participation. And winners will

– Receive further support to develop test and make operational the identified tech solution (either in form of tech support and/or seed funding) by the partner organizations of the hackathon.

– Attend the 9th session of the Conference of the States Parties (COSP), which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in December 2021. The COSP will bring together anti-corruption experts from more than 180 countries and will serve as a great opportunity for the winning teams to promote and seek further support for the development of their ICT-based solutions. More info here.

We will cover the travel and accommodation for the winning teams in accordance with the our travel regulations.

Both the official jury and all the participants will participate in the selection of the winners. 50% of the points will come from the jury and 50% from the participants. Each participant will have the possibility to nominate the best team. Participants are not allowed to vote for their own team.

The objectives of the hackathon are to promote the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to prevent and combat corruption in Africa and to give young developers the chance to come up with their own ideas on how to counter corruption through technologies. The challenge will be enhancing public-private partnerships in the development of sustainable ICT-based anti-corruption solutions; youth engagement and employment; innovation and technology.

Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Corruption undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development, and contributes to governmental instability. Corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law, and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existing is the soliciting of bribes. Economic development is stunted because foreign direct investment is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to overcome the “start-up costs” required because of corruption.