- Refugees United and Ericsson hosted a hackathon in San Francisco, USA, from June 8th and 9th 2013
- Bringing together some of the best technological innovators of the Bay Area
- The semi-finalists from the United States are runners-up in the Global Hack for Good
- Ericsson and Refugees United will announce the finalists on World Refugee Day on June 20th via a special Google Hangout event
San Francisco, USA – With the global number of forcibly displaced people at 43 million and growing, there is an urgent need to reconnect refugee families who have been separated due to conflict, natural disaster, or other tragic circumstances.
Ericsson and Refugees United hosted their second global ‘Hack for Good’ in San Francisco, USA on June 8th and 9th. Local developers participated in a two-day hackathon at Runyway SF, a hub for entrepreneurs and local start-ups.
“Everyone has the right to know where their family is,” said Mr. David Mikkelsen, co-founder of Refugees United, before announcing the two USA semi-finalists.
The two winning projects were “Message Wizard,” which enhances the usability experience of the current refunite mobile application, and “Connector,” which automatically sends a message to users when there is a match. Mr. Tony Tam of San Francisco is behind “Connector,” while Mr. Anari Sengbe, Ms. Ivy Wang and Mr. Zac Halbert developed “Message Wizard.”
This hack in Silicon Valley was the second in a series of three hacks taking place in Cairo, Silicon Valley, and Nairobi. Last week, Refugees United and Ericsson announced the Egyptian semi-finalists at a press event in Cairo.
The semi-finalists from San Francisco will represent the United States in the Global Hack For Good competition. Refugees United and Ericsson will be announcing the three winners via Google Hangout on June 20th.
“We are seeing first-hand the generosity and commitment of the global tech community,” said Mikkelsen, who founded Refugees United in 2008 with his brother Christopher Mikkelsen. The refunite platform is accessible to families in all countries, regardless of literacy level, Internet access or technological know-how.
The three winners from Cairo, Nairobi and Silicon Valley each receive a trip to Kenya, and will also be invited to test their prototypes in a refugee camp in late 2013. So far, over fifty developers have signed up for the upcoming global Hack for Good event in Nairobi, Kenya, taking place on the 15th and 16th of June.
ABOUT REFUGEES UNITED
Refugees United, www.refunite.org, is a free, safe and anonymous family-tracing platform accessible via web and mobile phone directly by the beneficiaries themselves. Refugees United is on a mission to connect one million refugees by 2015 and empowers separated families to take the search for missing relatives into their own hands.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT
Ida Jeng, Communication Manager, Refugees United, ij@refunite.org / + 45 31 49 31 93
The picture shows semi-finalists Zac Halbert, Ivy Wang, Anari Sengbe and Tony Tam who will represent USA during the Global #HackForGood Championship!
