Random Hacks of Kindness @ HackerDojo - November 12, 2009

[David Weekly]

[from Robbie Schingler and crossposted to both the HackerDojo +
DevHouse lists]

Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have teamed together with the World Bank
and NASA to host a two-day codejam at Hacker Dojo. The topic is going
to be creating tinyhacks / software for Disaster Relief. I have been
working with the World Bank guys for a couple of years, and they are
absolutely committed to bring innovation into the development and
reconstruction sector. This initiative is aimed to build a community
of developers and bring aid-workers and experts in international
development together. The commitment of the organizers is for the
long-run, so this is a great opportunity to be part of the inaugural
RHoK and contribute to the formation of the community.

I hope that you’ll be able to come, and please feel free to forward
this invitation on to your network.

http://randomhacksofkindness.eventbrite.com/

Thanks,
Robbie


----
Random Hacks of Kindness
The Disaster Relief Codejam

Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 6:00 PM - Saturday, November 14, 2009
at 5:00 PM (PT)
Mountain View, CA


What is Random Hacks of Kindness?

It is an initiative that brings together disaster relief experts and
software engineers to work on identifying key challenges to disaster
relief, and developing solutions to these critical issues. This
Codejam is the first of a series of Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK)
events that will bring the best and brightest together for a "give
camp" to solve real world-problems related to Crisis/Disaster Relief.


Objectives:

This event is the first step in building a global community dedicated
to solving disaster relief challenges through technology.

At the RHoK Codejam, programmers will partner with subject matter
experts to tackle “real world "problems. These challenges have begun
to be defined (see preparation), and will continue to be refined
during the event.

The software created at this first event will continue to be developed
at subsequent RHoK events, and openly shared with the international
community. Our hope is that this software will address some of the
serious challenges facing the disaster response community, and evolve
in response to their needs.



Background:

In May 2009, the first ever Crisis Camp barcamp was held in
Washington, DC. During one of the opening sessions an industry panel
including representatives from Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! agreed
that some matters supersede competitive concerns. We agreed to
cooperate to mobilize our developer communities to create
interoperable solutions/code that will have real impact in the field.
We have partnered with NASA and The World Bank to make this happen.


Organizers:

Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and The World Bank are founding sponsors

NASA-Ames is a co-sponsor


Preparation:

We want our hacks to make an impact. To that end we need the problem
definitions as tight as possible before we begin coding on the 12th.
The following is a link (see here) to the preliminary project
definitions. Please contribute by adding new ideas and/or refining
ones that are already there.