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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.