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Rhokblr Hackathon Tech

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a Twice a Year Hackathon for Social Good in Bangalore Organized by the Community where Hackers come together to solve social problems through technology

Get Your Ticket to RHOK Here Registration for the Hackathon – http://simpletechhlife.in/contact/

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What Happened at TechCamp Mumbai Feb 2013

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What is a TechCamp ?  you may be asking .. A Techcamp is a forum where technologists come together with representatives/SME’s [subject matter experts] from Non Government organizations from around the world to participate in  2 days of interactive sessions, participatory workshops on how technology can be an enabler , catalyze social change and more specifically help these NGO’s to do their job better through expanding their reach.
 
The Program is part of a global effort called civil society 2.0 launched by Hillary Clinton and is guided by the US state department . After similar programs in Honduras , Kiev among other cities it was finally the time for Mumbai to host such event for the whole of south asia with attendance from Maldives , Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and so on . it was fascinating to see such diversity among the participants united in their efforts to advance the discourse on technology for social action. 
 
The trainers come from various organizations/ Foundations behind technology for social change like Frontlinesms , Ushahidi , OpenStreetMap and so on .  
 

Speed Geeking :

The day started with an awesome session of Speed Geeking where over 100 participants spent 5 minutes at every table hosted by a Tech Trainer and they rotate. in a period of 60 minutes the participants get to learn about 12 different technologies by spending 5 minutes in each table getting a taste of each . As a speaker with a table I get to meet a different group every 5 min and have to share /pitch the impact of Ushahidi. This exercise can be quite exhausting considering the fact that the environment will be highly chaotic , lots of sound thus important to keep the energy levels up. It was the first time I did this so was different but fun !!

Deep Dive Sessions :

This session was followed a 90 minute deep dive session of each of the technology and I had the opportunity to showcase Ushahidi and talk about it impact as a platform for social change in election monitoring , disaster risk and environmental mapping.The After noon sessions included facilitation of workshops around Problems that can be solved with Ushahidi . Its been an awesome experience interacting with so many participants , sharing and listening to stories from all over South Asia on social change through technology . Trying to find opportunities to where Ushahidi Could make maximum impact through understanding various needs on the ground was the highlight of the day .
 

Brainstorming Sessions :

The second day included brainstorming sessions with interested participants about the problems that they think could be solved with the Ushahidi platform , the session involved gaining a better understanding of the workings of the non profit orgs in their field of action , there was a lot of listening to be done here to understand context , impact and the ground level reality under which they operate. I had the honor of facilitating this discussion with Mikel Maron of the Ground Truth initiative . This exercise generated so much learning that would be hard to describe here , it did have a profound impact on my belief on the impact of technology on social action and sustainable development .
 
The two days went pretty fast , personally for me the biggest takeaway was the learning that was generated by the meeting of  so many awesome people from so many countries doing great work , I should add that when such meeting of minds do happen there is a release of an energy that manifests in sustainable action , this energy and learning when harnessed and exploited with coherence results in development of community/nation/world which is the ultimate goal of technology.
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