RHoK 2013 Annual Report

Transcript

1. RHoK RANDOM HACKS OF KINDNESS 2013 Report
2. WWW.RHOK.ORG THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY SECONDMUSE, JANUARY 2013.
3. 2 THE RHOK PROCESS 5 THE RHOK PARTNERSHIP 3 THE RHOK COMMUNITY 6 WHAT‘S NEXT? TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 VISION & MISSION OF RHOK 4 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS
4. RHoK 2013 Report Page 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RANDOM HACKS OF KINDNESS RHoK is a rapidly growing global community initiative involving over 6,000 innovators in more than 35 countries who make the world a better place by developing practical, open source technology solutions to some of the most complex challenges facing humanity. RHoK is a mass collaboration—a movement that intelligently engages masses of people in collective action toward specific outcomes. Gathering people from diverse backgrounds and organizations, RHoK leverages their creative potential for software-based solutions the world urgently needs. RHoK is backed by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, HP, NASA and The World Bank as its Core Partners and DiUS as a Regional Partner for Australia, as well as a host of over 225 local partners around the world from the corporate, government, civil society and academic sectors. The year-round operations of RHoK are managed by mass- collaboration specialists, SecondMuse. Random Hacks of Kindness represents a novel approach to identifying and solving challenges for social impact. This process begins with defining local and global problems, prototyping solutions at internationally coordinated hackathons, and supporting the development and deployment of high- potential projects. Through RHoK, local experts, NGOs and community members identify problems which are then refined and curated by subject matter experts with field knowledge working in collaboration with technologists. Twice yearly, RHoK facilitates global hackathon events as a way to kickstart the projects that can be rapidly prototyped during a weekend, and then developed by the community throughout the year. The cost of prototyping solutions in a hackathon format is very low, yet the value of the resulting projects, partnerships and knowledge is significant—particularly for social impact organizations that struggle to achieve their goals with limited resources and technical support. RHoK projects tackle problems in a range of subject areas from international development to civic activism. Promising prototypes built at the hackathons are further developed through a process of incubation and implementation at the local level. RHoK is unique in its international reach, efficient use of resources and wide-range of subject matter areas covered with solutions that create a sustainable and measurable impact. The collaborative structure of RHoK also enables rapid response to new challenges that arise in this young and quickly evolving space. RHoK continually strives to measure its programmatic value, even through rapid growth and expansion. The technology solutions themselves, and their resulting impact, as well as the value of the thousands of professional hours donated, are only a part of RHoK’s value. Equally compelling, though perhaps more elusive, are the benefits that result from the building of a global community of individual and organizational actors collaborating for the betterment of the world. RHoK has become a platform for bringing people together to realize a purpose--from partnerships built among companies who are otherwise competitors, to collaborations undertaken between the non-profit and technology sectors. Through that platform RHoK has seen international collaboration and knowledge sharing take place, new models of peer-to-peer skills building and experiential learning, leadership capacities developed, jobs created, public data utilized for public good, and increased awareness among technical professionals of the broad array of human development challenges that their specialized skills can impact. RHoK is nothing less than an opportunity for motivated individuals to collaborate on expanding their own capacity to have an impact on the world, and in doing so to engage with people from the grassroots on up to the highest levels of governments, corporations, and other institutions. This report details the methodology, goals and impact that have made RHoK successful, and replicable in any community - including yours.
5. VISION & MISSION OF RHOK
6. RHoK 2013 Report TO CREATE A SELF-SUSTAINING GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF INNOVATORS BUILDING PRACTICAL OPEN TECHNOLOGY FOR A BETTER WORLD, AND TO ENSURE THEIR WORK CREATES IMPACT IN SOCIETY. Page 3 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK MISSION
7. GOALS Page 4 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK GENERATE international collaboration between individuals, communities and organizations. CREATE open technology solutions for the challenges facing humanity, locally and globally. FOSTER opportunities for technologists to use their professional skills to serve humanity. BUILD the technical and collaborative capacity of people and organizations to identify and tackle challenges for social impact. RHoK 2013 Report
8. WHAT WE BELIEVE Page 5 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK Organic, independently organized LOCAL COMMUNITIES are best suited for tackling local challenges. People around the world have time and skills that they will dedicate to MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE, given the opportunity. International COLLABORATION opens doors to new ways of looking at challenges and understanding common problems, and helps create a global human community. Open source software and open data are well suited to social development because they give people the FREEDOM TO LEARN, USE, IMPROVE and share technology. Open technology can REVOLUTIONIZE social development through increased participation, economic development opportunities and accelerated innovation. Creating SOCIAL IMPACT is a process of defining the specific challenges, collaboratively building solutions and identifying and supporting paths to sustainable impact. RHoK 2013 Report
9. HOW DID RHOK BEGIN? Random Hacks of Kindness was born out of the realization that technologists have unique and essential skills to offer in times of global challenge and crisis and that a volunteer technical community can create a significant impact in a short time period by putting their professional knowledge to work. RHoK began in the field of disaster risk management, mobilizing volunteer technologists to create solutions for disaster risk to increase the resiliency of community responses to disaster situations. In response to demand from the community, RHoK grew rapidly in scope to encompass all hacking for social good. From sustainability, to education, to health, to civic engagement, the RHoK community has taken up hundreds of diverse global and local challenges. A volunteer community of thousands of technologists around the world motivated to make the world a better place has powerful potential. To realize that potential RHoK developed a robust, learning- oriented process, fed by input from RHoK’s global community. The RHoK process--engaging with experts to define strong problem statements, collaborative rapid prototyping through hackathons, and creating clear paths for the sustainability of effective solutions--enables that volunteer community of thousands to create incredible impact through their efforts. Complemented by an emphasis on building capacity within local communities to carry forward this initiative independently, and creating a platform for non-traditional partners to come together in support of a greater purpose, RHoK has grown far beyond its origins. Encompassing individuals, institutions, corporations, government agencies, academia and civil society alike, RHoK has become a movement to better the condition of humanity through open technology. GROWTH OF RHOK 4TH HACKATHON 19 CITIES 3RD HACKATHON 22 CITIES 2ND HACKATHON 7 CITIES 1ST HACKATHON SILICON VALLEY, CA LOCATIONS TIME 6TH HACKATHON 25 CITIES 5TH HACKATHON 28 CITIES CRISIS CAMP JUN 2009 DEC 2009 JUN 2010 DEC 2010 JUN 2011 DEC 2011 JUN 2012 Page 6 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK 7TH HACKATHON 30 CITIES DEC 2012 RHoK 2013 Report
10. WHAT MAKES RHOK UNIQUE AND DISRUPTIVE? Page 7 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK Sustaining an international COMMUNITY of civic hackers. A system for sustained development of SOLUTIONS. An OPEN, flexible model. Engaging and empowering LOCAL communities. Leveraging technical SKILLS for social impact. Defining and cataloging technically focused social impact PROBLEMS. Coordinated, volunteer-led international HACKATHONS. Bringing together technologists with non-technical subject matter EXPERTS. COLLABORATION across organizations, competitors, government agencies. RHoK 2013 Report
11. In May 2009 at a Crisis Camp panel in Washington DC, people came together to discuss using technology to respond effectively to crises. Representatives from Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! were present, each speaking about their work in disaster risk management. Recognizing the need to overcome their organizations’ competitive structures to work together in a humanitarian context, they agreed to encourage their developer communities to create disaster risk management solutions and tools that would be ready for use before the next disaster struck. To help turn this ambition into reality, The World Bank and NASA joined the partnership, and together they determined to run an event where volunteer technologists could rapidly prototype open source solutions to reduce disaster risk. Thus Random Hacks of Kindness was born. BIRTH OF RHOK Page 8 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK RHoK 2013 Report
12. THE RHOK PROCESS
13. HOW DOES RHOK WORK? WHAT IS A HACKATHON? Page 10 THE RHoK PROCESS A hackathon is a unique forum for collaborative prob- lem solving that results in concrete software solutions that can be implemented around the world to address critical challenges. A hackathon celebrates hacking in its most positive context—using minimal resources and maximum brain power to create outside-the-box solu- tions (“hacks”) in response to interesting problems. Ha- ckathon events are hacking marathons, drawing on the talents and initiative of people from around the world, who volunteer their time to respond to real-world pro- blems with solutions that can have immediate impact. WHAT IS A HACKER? Do you like to solve problems or build things using creative methods? Do you get enjoyment from sharpening your skills and exercising your intelligence? Do you believe in sharing of tools and information to spur innovation and reduce redundancy? Yes? You might just be a hacker. RHoK is unique in the space of “apps competitions,” “hackathons” and “technology for social good.” RHoK’s model is to start by identifying, defining and refining problem definitions provided by subject matter experts and local stakeholders. This ensures that volunteer time is focused on solving real problems for real people. The RHoK process is based on three major components: Generating well-defined problems, organizing hackathons to develop prototype hacks, and ensuring the high potential hacks are developed, deployed and generate impact. Throughout the process is one additional component: capacity building. RHoK also works to build the capacity of other people and organizations. It is committed to supporting subject matter experts and local stakeholders to identify where technology can help address problems, volunteer technologists to understand these problems and create solutions, and event organizers to bring these groups together for close collaboration and rapid prototyping, followed by sustainable longer-term engagement to realize impact. RHoK 2013 Report
14. DEFINING AND REFINING PROBLEMS RHoK works to generate strong, well-defined problems for hackers to work on during hackathon events, and to solicit the active engagement of subject matter experts in the hackathons themselves. This is critical to the development and deployment of solutions that achieve impact, and it sets the tone for the rest of the process, which is based on the belief that success starts with engaging the grassroots stakeholders and understanding how challenges they face can be addressed on a technical level. It is not up to experts or hackers alone to solve these problems. They must work together at all levels -- especially in defining the problems themselves. A well-defined problem should be more than just a concept. To maximize the value of the rapid- prototyping environment, a problem should have all the information a hacker would need to hit the ground running when a hackathon begins, from a summary and background, to requirements, use cases, restrictions, and well-organized data. Having an expert on hand at a hackathon to work with the teams and provide real- world experiences and knowledge is another invaluable piece of the puzzle when working to build a solution with realistic impact potential. When all the necessary pieces are in place significant progress can be made in a very short period of time. Hackathon attendees are often especially enthusiastic about addressing problems that have an impact on their own lives and local communities. Page 11 THE RHoK PROCESS Moreover, local subject matter experts are more likely to be able to participate in hackathons in their own regions, contributing critical field knowledge and expertise to a hacker team. In many cities including Toronto, Philadelphia and Montreal, RHoK event leads have coordinated pre- hackathon brainstorming workshops where experts gather with a few technologists to pose their challenges and collaborate to identify the information and data needed to turn a challenge idea into a robust problem statement. Other cities, including Melbourne and Bangalore, have designated a volunteer to act as a government/NGO liaison, providing direct support and assistance to them in the development of problem definitions. RHoK organizers also leverage the growing capacity of the community by building partnerships with large organizations to generate well-defined challenges in the form of a Global Featured Problem Set for each RHoK hackathon. In early 2012, Nike’s Sustainable Materials Index (NSMI) was developed to aid manufacturers and designers in making informed decisions about the materials used in the design of a wide range of everyday products. RHoK partnered with Nike to create a problem definition around understanding the goals of the NSMI, the use-cases for those who intend to take advantage of it, and the design challenges for creating applications based upon it. A project based on this problem was then worked on collaboratively in San Francisco and Washington DC. RHoK 2013 Report
15. RHoK hackathons are where the magic happens. They are flashpoints for connection and collaboration among experts and technologists. Over a 48 hour marathon period, problems and ideas are turned into concrete prototypes and demos. At a hackathon, experts share their problem definitions and the potential impact of the solutions and solicit the insight, creativity and expertise of the assembled hackers to prototype those solutions. Unlike conventional hackathons where a majority of participants are strictly developing computer code, RHoK hackathons encourage a broad diversity of participation from graphic designers, product managers, copywriters, user interface and user experience designers, data specialists and other tech-savvy do- gooders, as well as software programmers. HACKATHONS Page 12 THE RHoK PROCESS The biannual hackathons at the heart of RHoK bring together over two thousand developers from cities around the globe. This coordinated effort infuses the community with enthusiasm and motivation while giving participants an opportunity for global collaboration and skill sharing. The hackathon step of the RHoK process is a key element of capacity-building for the community. Subject matter experts become more adept at understanding the process for defining technical challenges and can pass this learning on within their organizations, while hackers gain a greater ability to engage with subject matter experts beyond RHoK. RHoK 2013 Report
16. Page 13 THE RHoK PROCESS The hackathons also serve to build the capacity of civic tech communities. The collaborative, global nature of RHoK can kick start a community’s engagement with its own local or regional needs. Positive change is stronger and more sustained in places that have a diverse collection of motivated, connected, civic- minded individuals. MOTIVATING THE COMMUNITY In preparation for the global hackathons every June and December, a massive undertaking occurs to rally the committed volunteers that make the event a success. Local RHoK communities plan pre-hackathon social events, brainstorming and ideation sessions, and undertake targeted community outreach to ensure the right technical and subject matter skills are represented at the hackathon. A SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION The primary reason for coordinating a large number of diverse global hackathons is the resulting international collaboration. Live video streams, virtual hangouts, collaborative development and more are a constant fixture of these weekend-long events. This sense of greater collective purpose is a deeply motivating factor in developing strong, impactful hacks and is at the core of each event. Collaboration takes precedence over competition, prizes and glory for the purpose of achieving social impact. HACKATHONS RHoK 2013 Report
17. THE SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT Page 14 THE RHoK PROCESS The primary goal after the hackathon is to identify the projects with high potential and to support them through to deployment and impact. That is the goal of RHoK’s Sustainability Project. The mosaic of the Sustainability Project reflects the recognition that there are many paths to sustainability and impact in an open, community-based social impact process. Beginning in June 2012, RHoK partnered with Geeks Without Bounds and their Humanitarian Accelerator, a new six-month program focusing on business development, technical execution and deployment of high potential humanitarian technology projects. Accelerator projects were chosen following an open call for submissions that was broadcast to all RHoK global events. The pilot run of the accelerator incubated had 3 projects in a six-month cycle that concluded in December 2012 and included mentorship and support from a group of experts representing organizations with particular experience relevant to the chosen projects. Another group of projects was selected for acceleration in January 2013. Organizations dealing with humanitarian challenges often lack the technical expertise to drive a software project forward. Projects with clear owners, a somewhat clear path, but a lack of technical expertise can benefit greatly from inclusion in RHoK and can take advantage of continued attention by the RHoK community following global events. Amnesty International worked closely with RHoK to bring a series of immigration and migration problems to the global events in June 2012. Amnesty subject matter experts supported teams in creating projects in San Francisco and Berlin. RHoK has continued working with Amnesty to build relationships with tech organizations in order to sustain teams with new volunteers to execute further development of solutions to their problem statements. RHoK 2013 Report
18. THE SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT Page 15 THE RHoK PROCESS Sometimes post-hackathon project goals are not clear, but the motivation of the team and the focus of the problem are. In such a case what is needed is an emphasis on local collaboration and sustained engagement. RHoK events serve as a meeting point for motivated hackers who are ready to take these concepts to the next level. RHoK organizers identify the teams with this level of dedication and offer assistance to individual team members and in publicizing projects as they build support for their continued work. A motivated team in Philadelphia created PhillySNAP, an SMS-based tool targeting recipients of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. When SNAP users send their address to PhillySNAP, they receive the location and hours of the nearest farmers’ market that accepts their SNAP benefits, as well as guidance on using their benefits wisely. The need for individuals without internet access to locate farmers markets was clear, and the SMS-based app was built using tools provided by Voxeo, a local sponsor of RHoK Philadelphia. Following the event, the RHoK lead in Philadelphia helped the team connect to the Philadelphia Food Trust who now advertise PhillySNAP on the front page of thousands of pamphlets distributed to SNAP recipients at corner stores and farmers markets around the city. There are additional paths in the sustainability mosaic: projects go on to receive funding from a nonprofit (Ad Hawk), are redeployed at other hackathons (Pineapple Project), are taken on by other social-impact minded organizations (Sheltr), and more. All of this continues to build the capacity of participating individuals and organizations in understanding the needs for deployment of technical solutions to the challenges they face. RHoK 2013 Report
19. THE RHOK COMMUNITY
20. While Random Hacks of Kindness is strategically guided by its Core Partner organizations, it is an entirely community-driven initiative that has grown and flourished as a result of the sustained efforts of volunteers and dedicated local partner organizations around the world. All RHoK events across the globe are completely volunteer-organized -- from the selection of locations, to fundraising and sponsorships, to the development of local partnerships with non-profit organizations. Anyone, individual or organization, wishing to hold a local RHoK event can submit an application for a License to RHoK -- the ability to use the RHoK name and platform to coordinate their events. Event leads build local teams to support the coordination of their events, bring on local sponsors to fund event costs and, most importantly, source local experts and NGOs to participate in their events and work with technologists on locally-relevant problems. The larger RHoK ecosystem consists of hundreds of local partner organizations from private sector and non-profit organizations to government, academia and civil society. At both the global and local levels, RHoK events bring together non-traditional partners to collaborate on addressing the challenges humanity faces. WHO IS THE RHOK COMMUNITY? Page 17 THE RHoK COMMUNITY RHoK 2013 Report
21. Page 18 VISION & MISSION OF RHoK LEADS - Because of its structure and community ethos, all RHoK events are planned, organized and run by dedicated individuals who volunteer months of their time and energy to host dynamic, fun RHoK events. Event leads are the true RHoK-stars of the RHoK community. They are face of RHoK in their communities and are responsible for arranging everything from refreshments to Internet access to cleaning up at the end. Event leads are often repeat attendees who strive to do more than build solutions; they are the ones down in the trenches working hard to make RHoK events successful. WHO IS THE RHOK COMMUNITY HACKERS - The term ‘hacker’ often conjures images of malicious computer geniuses crashing networks. However, here the term is used lovingly to describe the 6,000+ volunteer technologists who make up the heart and soul of the RHoK community. RHoK hackers donate their time, skills and passion for making the world a better place by attending RHoK events and working on projects both at events and year round. A RHoK community member could be a student, a hobbyist or a seasoned technology expert, but at a RHoK event everyone is a RHoK-star. SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS (SMEs) - Creating meaningful impact in the world would be impossible without scores of SMEs to provide context and use cases for the teams working on projects. These experts may be university professors, representatives from NGOs or simply citizens with extensive knowledge of an issue. Whether it is helping refine problem statements, sharing first- hand experience at events or remotely advising teams, SMEs ensure that the projects originating at RHoK events have the potential for real-world use and impact. CORE TEAM - At the center of the global RHoK ecosystem is the Core Team: Google, HP, Yahoo!, Microsoft, NASA, and the World Bank as Partners at the global level, Operational Lead SecondMuse and Regional Partner DiUS in Australia. These esteemed organizations work collaboratively to provide the RHoK community with strategic direction, brand management and annual funding to cover operational expenses. Through regular conference calls, semi-annual strategy planning meetings, representing RHoK publicly, or simply coming out to hack at RHoK events, the dedicated members of the RHoK Core Team exemplify RHoK’s ethos of rolling up your sleeves and getting down to the business of making a difference. LOCAL SPONSORS - RHoK is a truly global initiative, yet each event is funded entirely by local companies and organizations seeking to have an impact in their communities. To date, over 300 organizations have signed on to support RHoK events in their communities by providing everything from venue space to prizes for the winning teams. The local sponsors provide the resources needed for hackers and SMEs to come together to make a difference in their local communities. ADVISORS AND CONNECTORS - Often when speaking about RHoK, the term ecosystem is used to describe the relationships between the different, overlapping ways people can get involved. Key to the RHoK ecosystem are the many advisors who help keep RHoK moving forward by championing the cause in the media, introducing community members to potential sponsors and offering guidance and encouragement to attendees and leads. These advisors may be former event leads or members of the Core Partner team, repeat attendees or event sponsors, or simply fans of hacking for humanity who put their time and energy towards helping RHoK make a difference. RHoK 2013 Report
22. Page 19 THE RHoK COMMUNITY RHOK COMMUNITY GROWTH EVENT NAME EVENTS 1 6 25 19 28 25 ATTENDEES 120 291 840 950 959 905 JUN 2010 DEC 2010 JUN 2011 DEC 2011 JUN 2012 NOV 2009 DEC 2012 30 985 SOLUTIONS PROBLEM DEFINITIONS 11 7 JUN 2010 DEC 2010 JUN 2011 DEC 2011 JUN 2012 NOV 2009 DEC 2012 176 128 RHoK 2013 Report
23. WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE Page 20 THE RHoK COMMUNITY SKILL SET BREAKDOWN LOCAL LEADS 8 % SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS 15 % DEVELOPERS 77 % Give back HUMANITARIAN CONNECTIONS HELP SKILLS COLLABORATE IMPROVE Friends LEARN CHALLENGE JOB PROBLEM Make the world better Share TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS BUILD SOLUTION FIX CONTRIBUTE ACTION Volunteer Create Imagine Generate Teams Development Impact Implement Educate Projects People Enthusiasm WHAT MAKES RHOK DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS 79 20 1 Male Female Other RATIO IT INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE 80 20 Male Female 95 5 TYPICAL OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS Male Female RHOK RATIO RATIO Development EDUCATE RHoK 2013 Report
24. WE ARE ALL RHOKSTARS Page 21 THE RHoK COMMUNITY “RHoK is a platform, an idea to bring companies (Sponsors), NGOs and talented people together to stop talking about problems or to recognize them without acting but to make a true commitment for a first step to working solutions. No matter what your skills are, no matter where you are located, we are motivating people to give their best for a specific human need and we deliver a solution that could be a working prototype or just a concept. What counts is: We make a difference by acting instead of thinking and talking. We RHoK!” Philipp Raschdorff “RHoK offers a nice way to do something nice for the world. It isn‘t focused on informatics only like most other hackathons. It offers a nice opportunity to non-informatics to get their ideas out to the people who have the knowledge and skills to execute it and create perfect solutions.“ Maarten Cautreels “It‘s really scary to try a completely new way of working, thinking, and interacting! Most of our lives are based around rigid structures of what is possible and how to make it happen. RHoK opens up an opportunity to try out an organic experience - what speaks to you, that your skillset applies to? How do you work with people you‘ve never met before on crazy awesome challenges? It‘s a wake-up call for not just the whole state of the world, but also what YOU can do about it.” Willow Brugh RHoK 2013 Report
25. WE ARE ALL RHOKSTARS “RHoK opened my eyes to a career path that I hadn‘t even considered previously. The headlines in tech reporting are typically centered on the latest gadgetry, slickest new software packages and the dazzling rise of trend-setting start-ups with vaguely defined business value propositions. Less often do we hear about the proverbial rubber meeting road where technical solutions are implemented with real impact on individuals‘ lives. At RHoK, I saw non-technical specialists breathing huge breaths of fresh air as technically-skilled volunteers lifted some tremendous burdens from their shoulders. I want to do that every chance I get, now.” Bob Lannon Page 22 THE RHoK COMMUNITY “The cost of creating good software can be high at times (I‘m not complaining, it puts food on my table) and this is usually a deterrent to individuals and organizations who have some legitimate problems that are begging for a technical solution. Usually due to budget constraints, uncertainty, skepticism, bureaucracy, politics, or what have you, these organizations might miss out on big opportunities to make a serious impact. RHoK provides them with an opportunity to try out things and access to the people with the needed skills in a short time frame and a safe environment where the cost and risk of failure is minimal, yet the potential impact of success is huge.” Serign Jobe “RHoK is a prototype. The concept is relatively new, we are also hacking how to make this possible. It will take time, talent, and tenacity to make it grow. Have fun, connect with others around the world who are like minds and know that RHoK brain is not just twice a year. It can change how you work, create and live.“ Heather Leson RHoK 2013 Report
26. Page 23 RHoK AROUND THE WORLD NEW YORK UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon keynotes RHoK event, December 2010. PHILADEPHIA RHoK supports a vibrant local culture of civic hacking. ATLATNTA RHoK winners and organizers recognized by the Atlanta City Council in January 2012. MOUNTAIN VIEW Home of the very first RHoK hackathon, November 2009. BOGOTA Shelter management system developed at RHoK adopted by national government and partners. SANTIAGO TweekTheTweet Twitter syntax developed at RHoK used to track aftermath of 2010 earthquake. NAIROBI 7 Kenyan developers hired out of college by the Kenya Red Cross society following their win at RHoK. DAR ES SALAAM Experienced RHoK organizers in Kenya mentor leads in Kigali and Dar es Salaam to host their own RHoK events focused on East Afri- can challenges. JAKARTA Risk in a Box tool developed at RHoK used to support flood contingency planning in Jakarta. BANGALORE India’s tech hub and home to one of RHoK’s longest standing commu- nities and 6 RHoK hackathons. SENDAI App built at RHoK used to track relief supply distributi- on following 2011 earthquake. SYDNEY Citizen bushfire reporting system built at RHoK deployed for 2 year period. OXFORD Hackathon hosted by OXFAM to address challenges submitted by their global field offices. TRENTO App built at RHoK allowing the distribution of excess food to those in need laun- ched in April 2012. ST LUCIA CHASM hack built at RHoK Washing- ton DC deployed by the World Bank in the Caribbean. PORT-AU-PRINCE I’mOK app developed at the first RHoK used during 2010 Haiti earth- quake aftershocks. RHoK 2013 Report
27. IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS
28. ENSURING FASTER RESPONSE TIME AND MORE EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES BY PROVIDING INCIDENT COMMANDERS IN OVER 75 DEPARTMENTS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA AND EUROPE WITH A FREE TOOL TO MANAGE PERSONNEL AND COORDINATE ASSETS DURING EMERGENCIES. Incident Commanders, whether managing an international humanitarian crisis or a local response to a fire or medical emergency, need to understand where critical resources are located. Built at RHoK #2 in New York City, a team of developers worked directly with emergency personnel and first responders to develop a web-based application that aids in the tracking of emergency response in real-time by showing responders turn-by-turn routing to destinations, calculating exact distances along roadways to hydrants or drafting sites, providing critical information about each responder‘s mission and those of other nearby “mutual-aid” actors as well as points of interest and potential hazards and enabling data collection via voice, web or SMS. Built with both cost and end user usability in mind, First Responder uses a wide spectrum of Google‘s services including App Engine, Latitude, Maps, Navigation, Picasa and Voice. With a simple interface, First Responder also enables the import of icons, photos and other data on top of the Google Maps API, allowing Incident Commanders to evaluate staffing levels, monitor personnel deployment in real-time and communicate with teams. Page 25 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS SUCCESS STORIES “ EMPOWERING VOTERS BY INCREASING THE TRANSPARENCY OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT FUNDING SOURCES Listens to political campaign advertisements, identifies them and gives the user information about who paid for them. The idea behind Ad Hawk started at a Philadelphia Hacks/Hackers meetup, and the project began at the Random Hacks of Kindness hackathon in December 2011. After a few months of follow-up work, the technology eventually found a home at the Sunlight Foundation for further development and publication. It is powered by Echoprint, an open source music fingerprint and resolving framework, created and made available by the good folks at The Echo Nest [http://the. echonest.com/]. How it works: Ad Hawk listens to arbitrary audio coming into your mobile phone when you touch the “Identify this Ad” button and creates a short digital fingerprint to compare against the database of hundreds of political ads we collect. If the audio fingerprint finds a match, we send you the information collected in our database about the sponsor of the ad and other details such as money received or spent, where the ad is on the air, media reports on the political group or ad and places to find more information. Our mission statement is if it‘s not cheap and easy it won‘t get broadly adopted by First-Responders. Cheap means not having to buy servers, hosting facilities. Cheap means using low-cost devices like smartphones and tablets. Cheap means minimizing training, upkeep, support and other costs. And cheap means, if you are a community organization and have your own technical support personnel, you can get a version of the software for free. Easy means fewer options and clutter. Easy means big buttons and simple layouts. Easy means access “from” any web browser connected to the internet. First-Responder Alliance FIRST RESPONDER AD HAWK RHoK 2013 Report „
29. HELPING THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA ACCESS FRESH,NUTRITIOUS FOOD STORES AND MORE THAN 25 URBAN FARMERS’ MARKETS VIA SMS TEXT MESSAGE. Lack of access to affordable, healthy foods is a well-documented risk factor for obesity and related poor health outcomes, and the need for increased access to healthy foods is especially great in low-income, minority neighborhoods. At RHoK #4 in Philadelphia, hackers partnered with Food Trust, an organization dedicated to helping citizens find affordable, fresh food, to help people enrolled in government food assistance programs locate fresh produce and other nutritious foods. The PhillySNAP app connects Philadelphians with neighborhood businesses and farmers’ markets who participate in the SNAP food program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by USDA). Users of PhillySNAP are able to text their location and receive information about the nearest SNAP-participating businesses, urban farms and farmers’ markets. Food Trust advertises the app on pamphlets which are distributed at farmers’ markets and corner stores around the city. A Spanish version of the app is under consideration, as is expanding the vendor database. Page 26 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS SUCCESS STORIES DISSEMINATING INFORMATION ABOUT LIFE-PRESERVING RESOURCES TO PEOPLE IN NEED AND ASSISTING COORDI-NATION BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONS DEDICATED TO HELPING THE HOMELESS. Meeting the needs of the expanding homeless population in Philadelphia is a difficult and taxing challenge for service providers. Service providers working with homeless populations face daily challenges communicating their needs and abilities. Similarly, with the dozens of shelters, intake centers and soup kitchens in Philadelphia operating at capacity, locating services, especially in high density areas, can be difficult for people in need. Responding to the call for assistance, hackers at RHoK #5 worked hand in hand with local homeless shelters and charities to create an application custom designed to increase communication between and from providers of life-preserving resources for the homeless, particularly food distribution centers and shelters. The result of this effort, Sheltr, is a mobile friendly site that highlights food and shelter resources in Philadelphia, with each resource marked with appropriate icons. Sheltr provides users with an easily searchable map listing of homeless shelters and free food resources in Philadelphia. The app is also easily maintainable and frequently receives updated service provider information. Since its launch in Philadelphia, Sheltr has been customized and deployed in New Jersey, Texas and the Dominican Republic. In 2012 the Code for America Brigade added Sheltr to its list of deployable apps, greatly increasing the impact of this application. We contacted Project H.O.M.E. and the City of Philadelphia to make sure we were on the right track. There are some resources that they have that are attempts in this direction, but nothing that has utilized proper web developers to create a singular resource or capacity monitor. Homeless people and people who help the homeless now will have an easier time finding shelter and food resources in Philadelphia. Salas Saraiya, Philly Sheltr team member This app will be essential to reaching the potential customers who don’t have access to the Internet or any of our other promotional advertisements. If more people can find a way to locate their nearest farmers’ markets, then the farmers’ markets in low-income neighborhoods will become more successful and, hopefully, will become a permanent fresh and local food hub for years to come. Jon Glyn, Farmers’ Market Program, The Food Trust PHILLYSNAP SHELTR RHoK 2013 Report “ „ “ „
30. PROVIDING DISASTER MANAGERS IN INDONESIA WITH AN EASY-TO- USE RISK AND IMPACT MODELING TOOL TO BETTER PREPARE FOR NA- TURAL DISASTERS AND MINIMIZE LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. Risk and impact modelling reduce the loss of life and financial devastation caused by natural disasters. However, these analyses tend to be built in silos and forgotten or ignored due to the complex and often confusing way information is presented to decision makers. To increase the effectiveness of risk models, di- saster managers need a simple way to combine disparate data sets about hazard levels and exposure, calculate impacts and effectively communicate the results to both decision makers and the affected populations. Inspired by the desire to reduce the impact of unavoidable natural hazard events, hackers at RHoK #1 in Washington DC and RHoK #2 in Jakarta worked with contractors and officials from AusAID, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Indonesian Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) to build InaSAFE. InaSAFE is a web-based tool that utilizes a variety of open source projects to help users understand the risk that comes with natural disasters and better in- form the decisions that must be made in their wake. Initially deployed in Jakarta, Indonesia, and recently awarded the Black Duck Software “2012 Open Source Rookie of the Year” award, InaSAFE is able to produce maps of roads that might be blocked, schools and hospitals that would close, and render accurate spatial representation of the supplies required to support the population in a flooding emergency. An earthquake strikes and a ground shaking estimate is produced by the relevant geological agency. How big is the problem going to be? How will it impact the popu- lation? How many lives might be lost? These are questions that need to be answered quickly and effectively. That is where Risk in a Box comes in. Ole Nielsen, AUSAid Page 27 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS SUCCESS STORIES REDUCING THE RISK AND IMPACT OF LANDSLIDES IN HIGH RISK AREAS THROUGH A RISK PREDICTION CALCULATION AND DECISION-MAKING PLATFORM. Rainfall triggered landslides pose a significant risk to vulnerable communities located in tropical regions and present a complex problem to local governments and development agencies. The success of the Management of Slope Stability in Communities (MoSSaiC) project has demonstrated that there are practical ways of improving slope stability, yet the issue of risk calculation remained. In response to this dynamic challenge, hackers at RHoK #1 in Washington DC and RHoK #2 in Saint Lucia and Chicago created CHASM, an innovative platform that simplifies data collection and produces easily understandable risk prediction visualizations. Built under the guidance of experts from the MoSSaiC team on the ground in landslide- prone Saint Lucia, the CHASM toolset was designed to help decision makers and engineers prioritise investment in landslide risk reduction in high risk communities. The CHASM platform does this by bringing together a suite of tools to calculate the risk of landslides and output the results in an easy to use graphic decision platform. Refinement of CHASM is ongoing, and the original team has grown to include direct input from engineers, academics, developers and residents living in high risk areas. A big challenge is how to make our risk prediction models available to users in those countries. In 2010, eight RHoK’ers joined forces with us to create a web based interface to allow model inputs to be created easily. They also created visualization software for the app that followed. In addition to the interface and tools, what we have now is a really good development platform to continue creating tools. Dr Liz Holcombe MSci INASAFE CHASM RHoK 2013 Report “ „ “ „
31. PROTECTING PROPERTY AND PEOPLE FROM BUSHFIRES IN AUSTRALIA THROUGH A CROWD-SOURCED INCIDENT. When bushfires strike Australia, people living in their paths need fast access to information. However, despite the significant risk these fires pose, residents in fire prone areas lacked a service that aggregated information from both official and social media sources to enable informed decisions about the best way to protect themselves and their property. Created at RHoK #1 in Sydney, Australia, the Bushfire Connect website launched in February 2011 and was actively deployed for close to two years during bushfire season, mapping fire-related incidents reported by citizens via text or web and overlays that information on top of official statements. As reports were made, users were alerted, allowing for the real-time distribution of lifesaving information across multiple platforms and geographic areas. Bushfire Connect is a mechanism to empower people living in remote areas who need information quickly by sending automatic text alerts directly to their phones. Bushfire Connect uses the Ushahidi platform to aggregate data from multiple sources: official and social, about events and incidents such as community meetings, fires, and road closures, in a way that allows anyone to contribute local knowledge and make informed decisions. The system now acts as a central repository for the collection and distribution of incident data. Since its inception in May 2010, the Bushfire Connect team has accomplished quite a few things: we‘ve established a great core team, a steadily growing online following, and went ‘live’ in February 2011, just in time for the Perth fires; all this in 12 months, with purely volunteer input and a cash outlay of about $2000. It is highly doubtful we would have achieved this without RHoK! Maurits van der Vlugt Page 28 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS SUCCESS STORIES HELPING THE KENYA RED CROSS ACCOUNT FOR AND COMMUNICATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LOCATION AND HEALTH STATUS OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY DISASTERS. Locating missing people during a disaster and communicating their health status and location to relatives and loved ones is a problem all too familiar to people living in many parts of Africa. Inspired in part by the success of Google’s Person Finder, which was used following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Res-Q Team developed Virtual Assembly Point (VAP) at RHoK #1 in Nairobi. VAP emulates a physical assembly point by listing the names, locations and physical status of affected people and allowing coordination of rescue efforts in conjunction with emergency operations centers. Users can share their status via text message. This information is fed into a web application used by the emergency operations centers to coordinate communication with concerned friends and relatives and share information with aid providers. Res-Q Team continued working on VAP during RHoK #2, where they added additional functionality. Seeing the potential of Virtual Assembly Point, the Kenya Red Cross Society partnered with Res-Q team to take the application to production and customize the platform so that it can handle daily emergencies and large-scale disasters. VAP is currently used within the Kenya Red Cross to handle volunteer communication and coordination on the ground and accounting for those affected by regional incidents. Further large scale rollout is underway. The project has meant a lot in terms of helping humanity and seeing a solution progress from prototype status to being deployed on large scale. Res-Q team has put in a lot of time and effort in making enhancements to the program and fixing bugs. For us to see our hack having reached where it is has given us great fulfillment. Res-Q team BUSHFIRE CONNECT VIRTUAL ASSEMBLY POINT RHoK 2013 Report “ „ “ „
32. INCREASING THE TRANSPARENCY AND USABILITY OF WORLD BANK OPEN FINANCES DATA THROUGH MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA. Billions of dollars in World Bank aid and/or grant money flow into various nations of the world, but where does this money go? Who wins and executes Bank-funded contracts? “Show Me the Money” is a data visualization tool that allows users to easily illustrate the net amount of money from World Bank contracts that is awarded to locally registered firms in countries receiving aid or grant funding. Users are able to trace, compare and contrast the money flow between various countries. Newly published open procurement data and some potential uses were pitched by World Bank representatives at the June 2012 RHoK event held in Washington, DC. At that event, a team of developers not only came up with a compelling concept but also built a prototype data visualization web application, called Show Me the Money, that allows users to access financial data quickly and analyze the flow of money. The team continued development and included functionality that enables users to view the tool from a development supplier‘s perspective. Elements of the RHoK application are key components of the new World Bank Open Finances mobile application, and the addition of increased functionality is planned. Page 29 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS SUCCESS STORIES Less than twenty-four hours before RHoK, the public spoke through a collaborative ideation event on open financial data, and the World Bank received the message loud and clear. Procurement data about the World Bank’s work was in high demand, and the institution responded immediately by publishing a sample Major Contract Awards dataset in open format just in time for RHoK. The World Bank Open Finances team pitched a challenge to the RHoK community. The challenge was met with an overwhelming response, including the creation of a prototype visualization web application, which was awarded the top prize in DC. The engagement of RHoK developers with our data also helped spur the expansion of the initial dataset from three months to seven years in open format. Samuel S. Lee, World Bank Open Finances WORLD BANK OPEN FINANCES MOBILE APP RHoK 2013 Report “ „
33. A significant amount of food is wasted every day by restaurants, caterers, supermarkets, etc. Access to information about food availability and donations is limited and not systematic, creating logistical bottlenecks. BringTheFood is a crowdsourcing web/mobile application that allows donors to seamlessly to publish offers and coordinate collections. Collectors can view the offers in their area on a map, reserve those that are available and schedule pick-up directly with donors. BringTheFood includes a feedback system for transactions and a reward system for donors, encouraging their participation to in food waste prevention. BringTheFood is also available on a wide range of mobile devices as well as Mac/PCs thanks to HTML5 and Sencha Touch. Page 30 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS After a disaster cell phone networks often buckle under the weight of drastically increased traffic. I’m OK! is a website and mobile app that allows users to notify friends and loved ones that they are OK in the event of an emergency.The I‘m OK! system lets users send one SMS text to a server that is then forwarded to a pre-populated list of contacts, including email and social network messages. Because the app uses SMS text messages, users are more likely to get their message through, and communication network bandwidth is preserved for emergency responders. The Cost of Freedom Project is a citizen-led initiative that has developed location-based apps to provide voters with information on how to obtain a voter ID. If voters do not have the documents to establish their identity, they can enter their zip code to find out how to obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate and the cost. If they want to apply in person, they will be given the location, office hours and directions using public transportation. During a crisis situation a large number of relief effort tasks stagnate, because it is difficult to match jobs with qualified people who are able to perform them effectively. Task Turking allows users to find jobs based on their specific skill set and allows search functionality to be saved for additional customization and ease of use. While being designed to be a simple, intuitive interface, the project has included much flexibility in the types of job requirements and skill sets that users have and tasks require. BRING THE FOOD TRENTO FOOD SECURITY OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS I‘M OK SILICON VALLEY, NAIROBI, SYDNEY, JAKARTA DISASTER RESILIENCY OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS COST OF FREEDOM PHILADELPHIA TRANSPARENCY OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS TASK TURKING SYDNEY, WASHINGTON DC, NEW YORK CITY OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS DISASTER RESILIENCY RHoK 2013 Report
34. Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) are disaster-trained volunteer groups that provide support when an emergency overwhelms a community‘s resources. When used correctly these teams are a valuable resource, but too often they are underutilized due to lack of coordination. Since Chicago CERT and Sahana-Eden first collaborated in late 2010, dozens of CERTs teams have provided suggestions used to design a solution specific to CERTs’ needs. Sahana-CERT is now intuitive and flexible, with an easy learning curve for non-technical CERT coordinators but also access to Sahana‘s powerful back-end functionality. Page 31 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS WaterVoices is an application created to encourage the Federal and Provincial governments of First Nations communities to take action and address water quality issues. The dynamic platform allows members of Canadian communities experiencing potable water challenges to use SMS to communicate their issues to politicians and create a map of where issues are affecting them. Taarifa was created at the London Water Hackathon 2011 and worked on at subsequent RHoK events. Forked from Ushahidi, it allows individuals to submit reports through SMS and visualize stories and issues on a map. One of the most important features of Taarifa is the administrative dashboard, which provides incentives for governments to adopt the program. The project has been deployed in Uganda, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, and there are plans to make it universally functional. Amateur radio operators are present all over the world, offering an existing and reliable communication network in times of disaster and chaos. Amateur Radio Link is a simple communication channel built to connect computers to radio transceivers making it possible to create a digital data link between two or more computers without relying on internet, telephone or cell phones. Amateur Radio Link is currently implemented and available to all amateur radio operators all over the world. SAHANA CERTS CHICAGO AUSTIN WATER VOICES TORONTO TAARIFA LONDON SOUTHAMPTON OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS AMATEUR RADIO LINK BUENOS AIRES OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS ENVIRONMENT OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS DISASTER RESILIENCY DISASTER RESILIENCY OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS ENVIRONMENT RHoK 2013 Report
35. Weather Collector is an application geared towards improving weather data collection and transmission. It uses readily available open source software to transmit data about weather conditions via SMS text message. The collection center receives all the weather data from various stations and keeps a log which is open to the public. Page 32 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS ConnectivityMapper is a smartphone app developed to alert users to ‘deadzones’ in internet connectivity and conversely show areas with signal on a simple map UI. The application also collects WIFI and GPS data passively. This application addresses the issue of sharing connectivity data and in turn promoting better use of limited technical resources and logistical planning. WeHaveWeNeed.org is a donation management system created in support of the Haiti Crisis. The purpose of the WeHaveWeNeed project was to transform the original WeHaveWeNeed codebase to allow for communication and aggregation of existing donation management content. WEATHER COLLECTOR GAMBIA OPERATIONAL CATEGORY STATUS CONNECTIVITY MAPPER DENMARK FIELD TESTING CATEGORY STATUS WEHAVE WENEED WASHINGTON DC BOSTON CATEGORY STATUS ENVIRONMENT COMMUNICATION DISASTER RESILIENCY FIELD TESTING RHoK 2013 Report FourTeachersProject is a web application enabling educators nationwide to build a creative community where they can network and collaborate by sharing ideas, lesson plans and teaching tools, while maintaining accountability to state and federal teaching standards. An upcoming feature of FourTeachersProject is The Desk, a searchable database where teachers can source, edit and evaluate lesson plans. FOUR TEACHERS PROJECT AUSTIN CATEGORY STATUS EDUCATION OPERATIONAL
36. Councilmatic pulls data out of PDFs provided by the Philadelphia City Council and turns them into searchable documents. It also parses data for further analysis. This project was started by a CodeForAmerica fellow in Philadelphia. During the RHOK event Councilmatic was extended by adding additional parsers. The team also brainstormed the task of building an engaging data display. Page 33 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS Tweak the Tweet is a hashtag-based syntax to help direct Twitter communications for more efficient data extraction for those communicating about disaster events. Use requires modifications of Tweet messages to make information pieces that refer to #location, #status, #needs, #damage and several other elements of emergency communications more machine readable. Disaster Mapper provides a simple mechanism for citizens to search an address and obtain information about the variety of hazards in their area. The system searches a variety of open datasets to determine how close the address is to a hazard. It will then present a map of the hazards surrounding the location, and provided a written description of each hazard. Additionally the user is able to click on information provided by emergency management to aid in hazard mitigation. A list of the hazards can be printed for easy viewing and sharing. YerBus is a simple web-based application that enables trusted/verified NGO users to publish their resource and volunteer manpower needs. The application has functionality that plugs into major social media networks allowing for a wider net to be cast when seeking assistance from community members. The primary feature of YerBus is the ability to form trust based relationships between NGO’s and community volunteers during times of crisis. COUNCIL MATIC PHILADELPHIA TWEAK THE TWEET SILICON VALLEY TORONTO DISASTER RESILIENCY CATEGORY STATUS DISASTER MAPPER PHILADELPHIA PROTOTYPE CATEGORY STATUS YERBUS SYDNEY, WASHINGTON DC, NEW YORK CITY CATEGORY STATUS DISASTER RESILIENCY CATEGORY STATUS FIELD TESTING TRANSPARENCY FIELD TESTING DISASTER RESILIENCY PROTOTYPE RHoK 2013 Report
37. Vermont 2-1-1 is a mobile app that provides a simple, quick, and easy interface that enhances the functionality and reach of the 211 information system. The app makes services/resources more accessible, appealing, and convenient for community members and connects them directly to health and human services with the touch of a button. Features include: data collection, driving and public transportation routing to service centers, resource contact information, service and location based queries, and added language options. Page 34 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS Where’s My MARTA Train? is a mobile app built to remedy the lack of a publicly available mobile app that allows riders of Atlanta‘s MARTA train system to track trains in real time. The mobile web app uses simulated real-time data and set schedule data to provide visualized train tracking. Location of trains are currently based on simulated real-time data and set schedule data taken from the MARTA web site. WaterMe is a web based application built to reduce the time and effort it takes to map water stress on plants in drought conditions. The stress put on plants during times of drought is difficult and time-consuming to map at ground level. WaterMe uses the Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) combined with land cover maps to predict the level of water stress expected on the vegetation. The app also maps anomalies and indicates where negative anomalies will be evidence of water stress. One of the obstacles and concerns organizations have before publishing open data is the unintentional disclosure of private information about individuals or other sensitive information. FFilter is a simple tool/application that takes open data in any machine readable format and scans it for presence of private/sensitive data. FFilter is highly configurable to tune filtering/ search for different problems. FFilter may prevent potential leaks and may eliminate some risks of publishing open data. VERMONT 2-1-1 BURLINGTON WHERE’S MY MARTA TRAIN? ATLANTA TRANS- PORTATION CATEGORY STATUS WATERME SOUTHAMPTON PROTOTYPE CATEGORY STATUS FFILTER WASHINGTON DC CATEGORY STATUS CATEGORY STATUS PROTOTYPE HEALTHCARE PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE ENVIRONMENT TRANSPARENCY RHoK 2013 Report
38. Seed saving is an important part of traditional farming that creates diversity in agriculture and helps farmers keep costs down. However, in several parts of the world it has become illegal for farmers to save and sell their own seeds. The Seed Swap App is a website for exchanging seeds among farmers and hobbyists. Users can upload a list of seed quantities they want to share with others, specifying species, variety, quantity and geographic location. Page 35 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS Using mHealth to Reduce Pregnancy Related Deaths in Developing Countries is a mobile app that enables trained volunteers in remote areas of developing countries, specifically Nepal, to transmit ultrasound images to medical centers in more developed areas for review. Using mHealth to Reduce Pregnancy Related Deaths in Developing Countries enables women to receive improved prenatal care and aids in the early detection of both maternal and infant health issues that could otherwise lead to mortality. Money Tracker is a web-based application that allows users to make donations to a variety of respected charities and NGO’s. Once the donation is made, users can track their money to see how that organization is spending donations. The user interface is similar to that of a mail tracking system. Using publicly available data, Money Tracker shows the financial actions of organizations in easy-to-understand graphics. Additionally, Money Tracker allows charities and organizations to post requests for money and supplies. In order to provide greater security and reduce personnel costs associated with staffing entrances to the acute care units of Dell Children’s Medical Center, an innovative biometric facial recognition application attached to door locks was created. When a patient is admitted to the unit, all of their regular visitors (family and friends) have a photo inputted into the system. When visitors arrive at the unit they sign in to a registry system located on a laptop. Using the built in camera, their face is then matched with those in the database. SEED SWAP APP TRENTO MANCHESTER USING MHEALTH TO REDUCE PREGNANCY RELATED DEATHS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TORONTO CATEGORY STATUS MONEY TRACKER SYDNEY PROTOTYPE CATEGORY STATUS IMPROVING SECURITY AT DELL CHILDREN’S MEDICAL CENTER AUSTIN CATEGORY STATUS CATEGORY STATUS PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE FOOD SECURITY HEALTHCARE TRANSPARENCY HEALTHCARE RHoK 2013 Report
39. The NGO Collaboration Space is a web and mobile application built to assist organizations in their efforts to work together. Within the application, users can post their activities, needs, resources etc. and other organizations can easily contact them either to donate time/resources or actively participate in efforts. NGO Collaboration Space has a template for activity entry allowing for easy searchability and the public facing portal allows citizen and donors to track activities. Page 36 IMPACT & NOTABLE HACKS NOTABLE HACKS The AMBER Alert™ plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases by broadcasting critical details to assist in search and recovery efforts of missing children. The RHoK team built a mobile application combining advanced geo-mobile communications technology and social networking components, coupled with increased consumer mobile data connectivity to improve the existing AMBER Alert™ plan. With this app, users can receive text notifications of nearby AMBER Alerts™, report a sighting and push notifications via social media networks for greater Alert distribution. Malnutrition is common in natural disasters, especially in prolonged emergencies such as floods. HeightCatcher is a mobile app that enables healthcare workers and disaster responders to more rapidly assess malnutrition in emergencies. The application requires a camera-enabled mobile device and a reference object of known length. Once the photo is taken the application can accurately calculate the height or length of a person. The software also calculates whether the person was stunted/wasted/underweight. Llegue a Salvo (Made it Safe) is a tool that will offer migrants a secure and anonymous way to let loved ones know they are safe, and to report hazards or abuses as they make the incredibly dangerous journey across Mexico to the US. Users can also observe all reported hazards via a map. NGO COLLABORATION SPACE NAIROBI ALERTED WASHINGTON DC CATEGORY STATUS HEIGHT CATCHER BIRMINGHAM BOSTON PROTOTYPE CATEGORY STATUS MADE IT SAFE SAN FRANCISCO CATEGORY STATUS CATEGORY STATUS PROTOTYPE CONCEPT PROTOTYPE YOUTH TRANSPARENCY HUMAN RIGHTS HEALTHCARE RHoK 2013 Report
40. THE RHOK PARTNERSHIP
41. HOW IS RHOK STRUCTURED? Page 38 THE RHoK PARTNERSHIP Random Hacks of Kindness is led by a core team of dedicated representatives from its founding partner organizations Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA and the World Bank, as well as HP which joined RHoK’s core partnership in 2011. Based on the growth and input of the global RHoK community, those representatives meet regularly to develop RHoK’s global strategy and provide guidance to RHoK communities around the world. RHoK also relies on strategic input from regionally-focused partner organizations who engage in particular regions of the world where the RHoK community has rapid growth and high potential. In 2012 DiUS joined RHoK as a regional partner focusing on supporting the growth of RHoK and the social hacking movement in Australia. SecondMuse is the Operational Lead for RHoK and manages the day to day operations of the initiative on the global level—from coordinating volunteer efforts and the growth of the worldwide community, to facilitating collaborative partnerships and managing communications and branding for RHoK. RHoK 2013 Report
42. PARTNER PERSPECTIVES Page 39 THE RHoK PARTNERSHIP “After participating in his first RHoK event, NASA astronaut Ron Garan noted “Of all the innovations that can come from Random Hacks of Kindness, I believe the most important of all is the collaboration itself. A global community coming together to tackle challenges facing our planet demonstrates the power of collaboration across borders, cultures and continents.” It’s that collaboration – the engagement of a broad group of diverse participants in collective action toward a specific outcome – that drives NASA’s exploration mission and fuels our excitement about RHoK. We are extremely interested to see what people can build with our immense quantities of open data and how they can use it to improve life here on our planet. We deeply value working in a transparent, participatory, and collaborative fashion because it helps us improve performance, inform decision- making, encourage entrepreneurship, and solve problems more effectively – we get new ideas and better solutions, with opportunities to work with citizens directly and engage them in NASA’s mission. It’s a privilege to partner with organizations like Microsoft, World Bank, Yahoo, Google and HP and see what becomes possible when we all work together.” RHoK 2013 Report “We find great value and inspiration in our partnership with Random Hacks of Kindness because it provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with global innovators and jointly develop technology solutions that can achieve real social impact. Together we address challenges and generate new ideas that can lend to a better, safer tomorrow.” Tony Surma, CTO & Senior Director, Microsoft Disaster Response “The World Bank through the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GF- DRR) is very proud to have been a founding partner of RHoK. Over the years we have wit- nessed the creation of many wonderful applications that have increased disaster resilience and worked to reduce poverty around the world. However, the biggest achievement RHoK has made is their global community spanning both the developed and developing world. When you bring people together like this amazing things happen.” Francis Ghesquiere, Head of GFDRR Secretariat, Manager DRM Practice Group, The World Bank
43. PARTNER PERSPECTIVES Page 40 THE RHoK PARTNERSHIP “DiUS is very excited to have joined with RHoK to become a Regional Partner for Australia. From the outset, we could see a strong alignment between DiUS‘s values and RHoK‘s strategy of applying open source technology to solving problems faced by communities in this region in timely and innovative ways. It was clear to us that we should channel our skills, our enthusiasm, and our desire to “give back“ into helping RHoK make a difference in our local community. I look forward to continuing to work with our RHoK partners to improve the future.” Daryl Wilding McBride, Chief Technology Officer, DiUS “SecondMuse is a firm that specializes in applying the art and science of collaboration to enable businesses, organizations and communities to solve complex problems. The SecondMuse mass collaboration team has developed the strategy and design and managed the roll-out of hundreds of hackathons and other mass collaboration initiatives throughout the world. Engaging with the global RHoK community on a daily basis is an exercise in constant learning and inspiration--evidence that the efforts of a few intrepid partners taking an innovative leap can be met with the enthusiasm of hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals who are actively committed to building a better world.” RHoK 2013 Report “Our partnership with RHoK provides us with a robust platform to engage our employees and activate our technology. By collaborating with this growing community of innovators, we aim to find solutions for tough global challenges.” Marlon Evans, HP Sustainability & Social Innovation Manager “Yahoo! is excited to be a RHOK sponsor because as a company, we believe that the Internet and technology provide powerful platforms to inform, engage, inspire and create solutions to global challenges.” Ebele Okobi, Director, Business & Human Rights Program, Yahoo! Inc.
44. WHAT‘S NEXT?
45. WHERE IS RHOK GOING? Page 42 WHAT’S NEXT? Over the course of its short lifespan, Random Hacks of Kindness has rapidly gone from a small, focused hackathon to a vast and distributed global movement. RHoK was conceived and incubated by a dedicated team of partner organizations intent on seeing meaningful and sustainable impact by bringing technology to bear on disaster risk challenges. As the RHoK community has multiplied and its focus expanded, however, the RHoK founding partners have made concerted efforts to invest ever greater leadership and autonomy in the community itself. The strategic direction of RHoK is deeply informed by RHoK’s community members—motivated and innovative individuals of all backgrounds who, in their drive to make a positive impact on the world, take the time to actively share their feedback and learning gleaned from their experience with RHoK. The year-round cyclical process of problem definition, rapid prototyping through hackathons and sustainability efforts that characterizes RHoK was developed organically through the synthesis and refinement of best practices seen within the RHoK community across the world. For the first time in RHoK’s history, this distributed global community will be invited to come together in person from all corners of the world to participate in a Community Summit in 2013, to share knowledge, accelerate learning, and plan together on increasing the impact of this powerful volunteer community. RHoK 2013 Report
46. WHERE IS RHOK GOING? Page 43 WHAT’S NEXT? Alongside the expansion of the RHoK community worldwide, RHoK is engaging with a broader array of partners globally to provide more support to rapidly-growing regional RHoK communities, and to develop more targeted regional impact strategies. As RHoK moves forward into its next phase of growth, it is focused on building the capacity of the global community across the board to implement the RHoK process and best practices, both at the global and local levels, and continually to refine and improve those practices. A rigorous problem definition process has evolved that includes fostering strong partnerships with non-profit organizations and development experts to collaborate on the formulation of compelling challenges. Hackathon events themselves continue to increase in quality and impact as new RHoK organizers utilize and build on the clear guidelines for successful event execution contained in RHoK’s detailed “RHoK-in- a-Box” event planning kit. Finally, both globally through the RHoK Sustainability Project, as well as at the local level, RHoK continues actively to pursue avenues for promising projects born at RHoK events to be pursued, piloted and ultimately put to use in the field in response to real-world needs. Using existing, and freely available, documentation of best practices, and empowering the community to further develop and iterate on them through community-led, individual and organizational initiatives, RHoK continues to remain at the forefront of creating impact through hacking for social good. RHoK 2013 Report
47. CALL TO ACTION Page 44 WHAT’S NEXT? RHoK originated as a unique partnership between some of the most prominent technology companies in the world, a government institution and a development agency on the belief that unprecedented collaboration is needed to impact the lives of large numbers of people. The need to expand this type of engagement is as relevant and urgent as ever. RHoK collaborations empower local communities to act on their own challenges and create social and economic progress in a very practical way. RHoK also supports the emergence of grassroots communities that are uniquely equipped to leverage technology for lasting impact. RHoK is all about partnerships. With over 200 companies, non-profits and agencies participating in the initiative worldwide, we are seeking to connect to a wider number of organizations and individuals that are aligned with RHoK’s values and interested in supporting processes that leverage open technology for social good. Visit www.rhok.org RHoK 2013 Report
48. CALL TO ACTION Page 45 WHAT’S NEXT? If you are an ORGANIZATION seeking to get involved in Random Hacks of Kindness, feel free to reach out to us by visiting: www.rhok.org/contact. You will be creating value for society by supporting a number of the following processes: If you are a COMMUNITY that is interested in aligning with RHoK, you will benefit in the following ways: If you are an INDIVIDUAL that has an interest in participating in RHoK, you can find a location close to you by visiting www.rhok.org/events. You should join the RHoK community if you are seeking to do any of the following: Building up a platform for collaboration between organizations at the international and local levels. Promoting collaboration towards the goal of measurable environmental, social and governance impact in local communities. Creating a space for employees of organizations to use their technical skills for social good. Enabling organizations to create thought leadership in using technology for social impact. Validating an efficient model for sustained impact that leverages the expertise of technical volunteers and subject matter experts. Allowing organizations to benefit from open and distributed research and development activity by accessing a global community of technical volunteers that prototype solutions on a low cost/low risk basis. Kickstarting or sustaining a community of civic- minded hackers and experts that will work to improve institutions, systems, government and quality of life. Creating opportunities for lasting impact through the implementation of technical solutions to local challenges through the involvement of local experts. Empowering a base of experts in the use of technology for social good. Create stronger relationships and increase collaboration between developers, businesses, nonprofits, and government institutions in your area. Use your technical or design skills for social good. Collaborate with local organizations and experts to create impact in your community. Learn about new technologies and socio- economic challenges. Meet new people in a collaborative environment where you get to actively contribute and work together on meaningful projects. RHoK 2013 Report