Got computer skills and want to use them for the common good? Check out Hack for Athens this weekend.
The event is part of the National Day of Civic Hacking, an Obama Administration-backed event where software engineers, software designers, entrepreneurs, educators, artists, scientists and others will collaborate to produce open source solutions to public problems.
Each team will try to address a specific challenge. In Athens, they include:
• developing a strategy to provide affordable broadband Internet access in low-income neighborhoods.
• using Google Maps to create a street map that includes information on bus routes and bike lanes.
• creating a map that integrates information about local businesses with social media users’ experiences at those businesses.
• using data on deposits and income to make an infographic that shows how depositing money in locally-owned banks benefits the community.
• creating documents that link local environmental violations with information on the makeup and health effects of contaminants.
• organizing data from the local government into searchable tables.
It’s not completely altruistic. There will be cash prizes for the best solutions.
Hack for Athens kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Chicopee Building right across the river from downtown with breakfast and a speech by Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Teams will form up and start working on their challenges until 10 p.m., then come back at 9:30 a.m. to continue working and present their ideas Sunday night. Catered meals will be provided.
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