We are organising a Hackathon to bring together bright, determined people to help hack the problem of running successful Elections in emerging economies; using the Nigerian elections which come up in 2019 as a focal point.

 There are numerous technological, ethical, economic and political questions which can be answered by focusing on this theme, and we are looking to explore and address questions such as:

 1. Elections are driven by political campaigns, which are dependent significantly on the availability of Big Data and its analysis. In what ways can Big Data be used to ensure fairness in the election process?

 2. Elections are significantly affected by social media and the ability to decipher what is real from what is fake. What innovative solutions can we come up with to look into this challenge?

 3. Elections are affected by how they are perceived, and the ability to show transparency and hence win credibility. Who can we provide innovative solutions in this space?

 4. Elections involve desperate parties including international monitoring organisations who are in need of better ways to gather information and verify Election results. How can we improve the process?

 5. In recent times severe allegations have been made about elections being influenced by nation states and corporations. Are there ways in which we can use technology to reduce the impact of external parties in the elections of emerging economies?

 6. In recent times, Blockchain technology has gained a lot of traction, but asides building a currency around it, to what extent can Blockchain technology be used assist the electoral process in results verification? In what ways can blockchain technology be explored in the elections of emerging countries, particularly in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria?

Right! You want to attend the hackathon and want details? Here you go:

Venue: Microsoft, 70 Wilson St London, EC2A 2DB

Time: 27 Oct, 9:00 am – 28 Oct, 6:00 pm

Who: Techies and non-techies – everyone is invited.

Register: Get your free tickets here.

• Creativity
  How original is the idea? How creative has your team been in solving the challenge? Did they come up with a radical approach, or did they follow existing patterns and solutions?
• Design
  How well designed is this solution, from front end through to UI/UX? Did your team think about the user interface(UI) and user experience(UX)? How well designed is your demo? Is it easy to use or does it require a lot of training to understand the demo?
• Related to Challenge
  Is the solution relevant to the themes of solving the problems of running successful elections in Emerging Economies
• Impact
  How impactful will this solution be for its target audience? Is it scalable, feasible and provide economical and societal value and sustainability? This can be looked at as the business model.
• Execution
  How well executed is this solution from start to finish? Does the hack work? Is the hack testable, and can the team show the minimum viable product? The hack does not have to be perfect or production ready, but does the idea come to live with your demo?
• Pitch
  A good pitch, for example, can get you a job, promotion and investors. It can also convince customers to buy a new product or service. Therefore, your team will be judged if they were convincing enough, was it short and to the point? Enthusiasm?