Developers are Invited to an Election 'Hackathon'

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As part of the #BilangPilipino campaign for the upcoming 2016 presidential elections, TV5 announced that it would be staging a data-driven "hackathon" where developers, mobile app makers, and designers can collaborate and create relevant mobile apps and websites that will help voters make an informed decision come election day.

Dubbed "Hacksyon: The #BilangPilipino Hackathon", organized in cooperation with mobile leader Smart Communications, Smart Developer Network (Smart DevNet), Voyager Innovations, PayMaya Philippines, and DevCon Philippines, the hackathon is set to happen from April 16 to 17 at the National College of Public Administration and Governance in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.

Developers who want to join the hackathon may pre-register for free by visiting http://www.eventbrite.com/e/hacksyon-bilangpilipino-hackathon-registration-24388696247.

"The 2016 elections is a pivotal time in our collective history as a country, made even more interesting by the rise of emerging digital and mobile technologies. And with majority of voters falling under the 18 to 34 age bracket --the so-called 'millennial' generation-- who are immersed in these digital platforms, mounting 'Hacksyon' is but a natural step in getting them engaged in nation-building, and through an activity that appeals greatly to their digital pursuits," explained Roby Alampay, InterAksyon.com and BusinessWorld Editor in Chief.

Alampay said the hackathon perfectly complements TV5's far-reaching and in-depth election data-driven reportage, which already goes beyond the broadest reach of TV5 and Radyo Singko. #BilangPilipino now reaches more than 75 million PLDT, Smart, Sun and TNT subscribers, more than 11.2 million combined fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter, and the millions of registered mobile users empowered over Voyager's free-data Safezone community.

These synergies have also given birth to the Bilang Pilipino-SWS mobile poll in partnership with the Social Weather Stations, a pioneering project to rapidly survey opinions from a random national sample of voters, deliberately equipped with mobile phones powered by Smart and the online survey platform developed by Voyager.

"As we've seen in the previous PiliPinas Debates 2016 co-organized by TV5, information really is power--and that information can come from various sources: from the behind-the-scene incidents during the TV debate, to various reactions on social media, and even through various forms of data generated by government and other entities. This hackathon will challenge the creative young minds of developers to surface and help make sense of that data for a better-informed electorate come May 9," Alampay added.

For the first time, TV5 will provide developers access to its various data sets which can help voters make an informed choice during the May 2016 elections. Participants, in teams of two to four, will also have access to the data sets of the government’s Open Data initiative, among others.

In 24 hours, they are tasked to create mobile apps or websites that will make use of the data sets and provide a helpful guide for voters during the elections. Creators of the top three apps to emerge from the hackathon will receive mobile devices from Smart as well as other exciting prizes.

The apps will be judged based on appropriateness to theme, user experience and functionality, originality and impact, and how the developers utilized existing technologies. Key personalities from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), online citizen groups, civil society, and the technology industry have been invited to judge during the hackathon.

For more information on #BilangPilipino, please visit www.bilangpilipino.com

For updates on developer events, please check out http://facebook.com/groups/smartdevnet.