In order to strengthen the role of civil society in reforms and democratic changes in the EaP region through the development of relevant digital solutions, the European Union has established the EaP Civic Tech Award (before 2023 – Civil Society Digitalisation Award). The Award seeks to support the full-fledge development of the best digital solutions designed by participants of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Hackathons organised by our Project.
Each year one or several hackathon team receives the EaP Civic Tech Award and financial support to further develop, test and launch their digital solution prototyped during the hackathons. During the 2020 Hackathon, two ideas were selected for the EU support.
2024 EaP Civic Tech Award
IntegrityLens Web App (Georgia)
This innovative web app leverages AI-powered technology to assist investigative journalists and civil society in conducting research. The tool aims to support transparency initiatives and empower data-driven investigations.
Village Travel Bot (Moldova)
This project will focus on empowering rural communities in Moldova by promoting local tourism and contributing to the economic development and revival of Moldovan villages. The Village Travel Bot is a custom Telegram bot that will help users plan and explore rural Moldova, offering educational insights, cultural experiences, and interactive challenges for a unique and immersive travel adventure. The bot will be piloted in five villages in 2024, with the potential for further development and customization for other countries in the region.
2023 EaP Civic Tech Award
Lucius Lex Online System (Moldova)
Lucius Lex is a notification and search engine designed to make the Moldovan justice system more transparent and digitally accessible. Targeting lawyers, civil society activists and media professionals, it will allow users to search for and follow on the rulings of all levels of courts. The Lucius Lex solution will consist of two related software products:
- a search engine for searching within court decisions published on the Moldovan courts’ websites (about 1.5 million, including scanned documents), and
- a notification system tailored to inform users about newly published cases via email and/or Telegram. This system employs keyword filters, case numbers. The system also provides real-time updates on upcoming court hearings pertinent to the users’ areas of interest via calendar invites.
Red Cap Must Cry Social Mobile Game (Belarus)
Red Cap Must Cry is a mobile game (Android and iOS) that uses augmented reality (AR) and storytelling techniques to immerse the users into the child sexual abuse problem. The game trains users in recognizing and reporting inappropriate behaviour and motivates victims of domestic violence to seek help by providing contacts for communication. The support website summaries the key information and contact details from the game.
Primarily designed for the teenagers aged 12-16 from Belarus, this game is also relevant to the teenagers from other EaP countries. It is already available in Belarusian, English, German and Russian languages, but can be further developed and customised to the needs of communities in any country of the region.
2020 Civil Society Digitalisation Award
Donor.MD Platform (Moldova)
Donor.MD web-platform supported the development of blood donation in Transnistria, Moldova, motivating people to donate blood and helping people in need to find a donor. The platform addressed the problem of donor blood shortage, monitors local blood banks and sends timely notifications to registered users with suitable profiles, requesting to donate blood.
The platform also allowed people in crisis (blood recipients and their relatives) to search for the blood they need not in social networks, but on a secure specialized portal. Donation history and other data in profiles of registered users help healthcare professionals to prepare donors for a new donation.
SaveUs Charity Platform (Belarus)
The SaveUs tool is a charity platform to protect animals’ rights in Belarus. It is an all-in-one solution helping volunteers and animal shelters advertise pets for fostering and adoption, raise funds for animals’ medical care and report on the money spent in an easy, transparent, and effective way. Here volunteers and organizations can launch individual fundraising campaigns and post announcements about the animals in need they are taking care of now. A special section of the platform, SaveUs Journal, is dedicated to the developments in the animal rights sphere of Belarus, from the legislative initiatives to the ongoing animal rights actions and projects.
The platform saves volunteers’ time and helps them focus only on saving the animals, leaving all administrative work behind. They are required only to provide proofs of expenses incurred, and everything else – from the daily technical management to traffic acquisition – is on the side of the Saveus platform team.
2019 Civil Society Digitalisation Award
Interactive Map PROVIDNYK (Ukraine)
PROVIDNYK was an interactive map for people with mobility limitations to help them find the best and safest routes in the cities of Ukraine using the crowdsourced data.
PROVIDNYK addressed the problem of the quality of life of Ukrainians with limited mobility by allowing its users add and evaluate the accessibility of infrastructure objects, first in Kyiv and Odesa, and later – throughout Ukraine. It also helped consolidate the efforts of the civil society, state, business and public in building an inclusive society in Ukraine.
Users were able to plan the accessible route and create point-to-point directions, add objects (locations) with and without inclusive infrastructure on the city maps, and review the objects, adding photos and texts. When an object gets certain number of negative reviews, the system will automatically send a request (complaint) to the relevant authorities.
2018 Civil Society Digitalisation Award
DOIKA Donation Module (Belarus)
The Doika Donation Module enabled civic organisations registered in Belarus to raise funds on their own websites in a cost-efficient and flexible way, with fewer intermediaries and fees.
This open source solution could be installed on any website of any organisation, regardless of the platform used. Using debit/credit card direct payments, the organisations may collect membership fees, donations for regular activities or for a specific cause, like special events, campaigns or charity initiatives.
2017 Civil Society Digitalisation Award
Serabranka. My Neighbourhood (Belarus)
A participatory urban development website that aimed to involve citizens of Serabranka neighborhood (the city of Minsk) into designing and direct transformation of urban space in the chosen district.
The website was an instrument for transparent and efficient two-way communication between urban development professionals and everyday users of public spaces. It helped to transform existing public spaces (urban environment) with citizens’ participation.