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7/28/2019 Dd's Haiti Hackathon - FAQ
1/1
Digital Democracy | 109 W. 27th St 6th Fl, New York NY 10001 | www.digital-democracy.org
FAQ
Haitis first Hackathon:
A Konbit Teknoloji
For three days in early February, an unlikely group of Haitian technology students, international
technologists and grassroots women activists gathered for an even more unlikely gathering
Haitis first Hackathon. What is a hackathon anyway, and what went down at the event?Read on to learn all about the hackathon or konbit teknoloji, as it was called afterward by
participants.
What exactly is a Hackathon?
A hackathon is a combination of the terms hack + marathon. Hackathons bring together
teams of technologists & designers to produce a technical tool in a short amount of time,
often fueled by coffee, pizza and high-speed internet.
Why did you decide to host a hackathon in Haiti?
Digital Democracys partner KOFAVIV needed a technical tool a web-based resource map
to support their rape response hotline. We didnt just want to build it with programmers inNew York City, we wanted to build it in Haiti, with KOFAVIV actively involved in the process.
So what does a Hackathon in Haiti look like?
Something unique. We werent quite sure how it would all turn out, but the event exceeded
our most hopeful aspirations. There may not have been much coffee, pizza or high-speed
internet, but the critical component of collaborative creativity was present in abundance.
One international participant--a seasoned hackathon-attendee--told us, I would like to say
that the Hackathon word implies a competition. This was a lot more than just that. This has
to be the most meaningful event of this kind I've ever part taken.What made the Haiti Hackathon so unique?
Hosting the Hackathon in Port-au-Prince provided constraints that many of the international
participants had never faced previously, allowing them to understand firsthand the needs of
the eventual users of the platform. The KOFAVIV representatives were able to guide the
design of the tool they will use, and students at host institution ESIH made the realization
that, while a hackathon might be a foreign concept, the core idea of combining resources
to collaborate, is rooted in the traditional Haitian concept of a konbit.
What was accomplished at the hackathon?
In addition to the actual web-based resource map which will be used by KOFAVIV to
support callers from around the country, the Hackathon facilitated a rich, real-world learning
experience for students, development technical skills development, cross-cultural
collaboration, and the forging of deep relationships between local and internationalparticipants.
Whats next?
More hackathons! Its true, Haitian participants requested more opportunities to learn new
skills and contribute to their countrys development. Dd plans to help local participants
continue to implement the hackathon model in Haiti and to help them export the idea of the
konbit internationally by bring the energy to US-based hackathons.