Sanitation Hackathon

This December, technology experts will team up with leaders in the field of sanitation in an intensive marathon to find innovative solutions to challenges facing the sanitation sector.

The event, which is being organised by the World Bank alongside local and global partners, will take place simultaneously in several cities across the world around the time of the World Toilet Summit (3rd December 2012). London will play host to the UK event and WSUP are proud to be organising the London hackathon.

A hackathon is an event in which computer programmers and others in the field of software development, like graphic designers, interface designers and project managers collaborate intensively on software projects.

Hackathons are increasingly used to pair young technologists with development challenges. In order to bring about new technological innovations in the water and sanitation sector, the World Bank initiated the first ever Water Hackathon in October 2011. The event featured nearly 1,000 registered hackers at ten locations worldwide who developed some 62 new prototypes.

With the number of mobile subscriptions exceeding 5 billion, more people today have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet. The Sanitation Hackathon emerges out of the recognition that the rapid increase of penetration, awareness and literacy in information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the developing world can transform water and sanitation management. Mobile phones, the Internet and open data are creating new entry points to make sanitation services more transparent, inclusive and participatory while forging new connections between the government, its citizens and the private sector.

The objective of the sanitation hackathon is to develop innovative software solutions that address real-world problems in sanitation. In the lead up to the event, sanitation experts and members of the public will create, submit and vote on problem definitions that highlight specific sanitation challenges that could be mitigated by innovative ICTs. Then, during a weekend-long marathon event, teams of programmers in cities around the world will develop innovative solutions to these problems.

In advance of the hackathon, WSUP is looking to partner with individuals and organisations in the sanitation and technology sectors who want to support the global event, participate in the London event and contribute to defining sanitation problems facing developing countries.

Contact Andy Narracott on anarracott@wsup.com or visit this link for more details:

http://www.sanitationhackathon.org/london