Project Update #4: Hackathon Day 1 Continued

October 20, 2017

Part of the: World Bank & Sexual Violence Research Initiative Project: ‘Combatting Sexual Violence in Kyrgyzstan through Innovative Education and Information Technology (Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia)’

Dr Elena Kim, Dr Elena Molchanova, Aigerim Bakubatova, and Dr Frank G. Karioris

With the amazing introductory speeches, the entire room was excited to begin working on and presenting their project. The organizers began pulling the groups together. The day prior each group had worked to create a short ‘pitch’ that they would give to the Experts and Mentors that were attending the Hackathon to push the projects forward.

Each group was given 90 seconds to give their pitch, providing both some sense of what issue they would be addressing as well as how the program would look. Our group had elected Dr Elena Kim to provide our pitch. The projects that each group was working on varied significantly, tackling a number of the important elements of the overarching project that the Hackathon was meant to address.

During the presentations the Experts and Mentors took notes, thinking through each project and on any questions that they had. After the presentations were over, the next component was ‘speed-dating’. In this case, speed-dating was time for each group to have time to meet with each Mentor. The mentors were spread throughout the room at tables, with the groups having five minutes to get any questions, comments, concerns, and assistance. The Mentors represent experts in technology, marketing, business, and social issues. This wide group of Mentors gave the groups the chance to get insights from these distinct perspectives and to take them on board with their projects.

With each group having met each of the Mentors, it was now time for the real world to begin! Each group was provided a classroom in the building to use. As with most Hackathons, teams generally work late into the night on their project.

Our team came back to their room and worked to address the insightful comments that they’d received from the Mentors and to begin outlining the tasks to accomplish. As a group they brainstormed the best ways to incorporate the suggestions, and how their program compared to others that already existed.

In the next update, we’ll talk about the application that the team was working on and their first steps towards making it a reality!