sanitation hackathon

Silicon Valley: Inspiration Tour Ends, Ideas Just Beginning

As mentioned in the previous post, the three grand prize winning teams of the Sanitation Hackathon boarded from their home countries – Indonesia, Senegal, Tanzania, and the UK – for a week-long trip to Silicon Valley, hosted by IDEO.org. They met with companies such as Zynga, the world’s leading social gaming company, Facebook, the social network giant, AirBnB, a travel site, The Hub, a collaborative work space, and Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform. The young web developers learned about the importance of data, how to reach large networks, why trust and collaboration are key, and what makes a crowdfunding campaign successful.

Silicon Valley: Where Innovation Meets Development

The Sanitation Hackathon & App Challenge three grand prize winners, mSchool, Taarifa, and SunClean, flew over from their home countries, Senegal, Tanzania, England, and Indonesia to attend the awards ceremony in Washington, DC. With a 64inch touchscreen provided by Microsoft, the teams showcased their apps to sanitation sector specialists at the WB-IMF side event on Investing in Sanitation.

Toilets: There’s an App for That

It’s no secret that the rapid rise in access to mobile phones has created a new vehicle for the delivery of information and services, particularly for people at the base of the pyramid – or those who live on less than $1.25 a day. The challenge we, as development practitioners, face is understanding how to leverage mobile phones in ways that empower citizens as agents of change who can influence and drive development processes in their communities.

Calling All Sanitation Hackathon Enthusiasts: Top 10 Finalists Announced

After months of coding away during the Sanitation Hack@Home challenge, 10 teams of hackers were selected as finalists. The Hack@Home challenge is part of the Sanitation Hackathon, a yearlong process that included a global event in December where dedicated programmers worked on apps geared at addressing the global sanitation crisis, namely the 2.5 billion people who lack access to adequate sanitation.

Why Are Pakistani Students So Excited About Discussing ‘Open Defecation Free Status’?

After 29 hours of working without break, followed by presentations and a tense six hour wait for results, Agam Saran excitedly announced on Facebook that his team was one of two winners of the Water and Sanitation Hackathon Pakistan.

The 21-year old student at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, on a team with four friends, was one of 106 students, aged 21 to 26, who spent the December 1-2 weekend in Lahore, developing mobile and web based applications for water and sanitation utilities in Pakistan. They came from various universities across the country to participate in the Sanitation Hackathon 2012.

What Do Toilets and Cell Phones Have in Common?

They both hold the potential to help meet the needs of the poor and end poverty. New ideas and innovative solutions are critical to address the 2.5 billion people who lack access to proper sanitation. Lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills more than 4,000 children a day and a lack of sanitation results in billions of dollars in economic losses to developing countries. Now that more people have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet or latrine, it’s time to leverage technology to help reach development goals.

sanitation hackathon

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