Press release:
- First-of-a-kind event aimed at creating technical solutions that help separated families find their lost relatives
- A voice application to help illiterate people and an integration into the Twitter platform were named semi-finalist projects at the first ‘Global Hack for Good’ hackathon in Cairo on June 1
- The two semi-finalists from Egypt will be runners-up in the global competition that culminates on World Refugee Day on June 20, where Ericsson and Refugees United are hosting a Google Hangout to announce the winners
Ericsson and Refugees United hosted the first ‘Global Hack for Good’ from May 31 to June 1 in Cairo, where application developers participated in a weekend-long ‘hackathon’ aimed at reconnecting refugee families with loved ones through innovative mobile technology and web.
The semi-finalists at the event, who each presented their technical solutions to a judging panel consisting of members from both Refugees United and Ericsson, were chosen based on their solutions’ impact and originality. The winner of the Cairo event, who will represent Egypt during the global championship in a refugee camp later this year, will be announced on World Refugee Day, which is observed worldwide on June 20.
The two finalists, announced yesterday in the Cairo competition, are Solieman ElSaber from Zefta – El Gharbeya governorate, and both Mohamed El Ersh and Mohamed Abdellatif from Cairo. ElSaber developed an application that allows for searches to be made between the Refugees United platform and Twitter. ElErsh and Abdellatif, developed an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) application to help illiterate people connect with the Refugees United platform.
Claudia Simler of Refugees United said: “At Refugees United, we believe that everyone has the right to know where their family is. In Egypt, we are witnessing a true digital explosion, and it is exactly this potential that we’re tapping into with this first-of its kind Hack For Good, bringing together skilled techies that want to contribute to help separated families reconnect easier in the future.”
Isil Yalcin, President, Ericsson North East Africa said: “At Ericsson we have a long-term commitment to the refugee cause. We have been working with Refugees United since 2010 to create a mobile platform that refugees can utilize to find family members, and the ‘Global Hack for Good’ series of events is the culmination of our collaborations. This weekend in Cairo was an impressive kick-off to the series of events, and was an indicator of all the groundbreaking applications we will continue to see in upcoming events.”
The upcoming ‘Global Hack for Good’ events will continue to galvanize the talent and skill of the developer community toward finding a solution to reunite the 43 million forcibly displaced people with their families. During the unique series of “hackathons,” developers across three continents will create applications for use on mobile networks, with everyone working toward the same goal of making reconnection easier.
The next hackathon will take place in San Francisco, USA, on June 7 – June 8, and the third series will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 15 – June 16. The finalists from each event will receive a trip to Kenya, and will be invited to test their prototypes in camp in late 2013.
