Hackathon-2024 - Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility

After two online editions, the 2024 Eastern Partnership Civic Tech Hackathon was held in Chisinau on 26-28 January 2024. This event brought together over 60 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine – civil society activists, developers, designers, and IT experts, who formed 15 teams to develop civic tech solutions that address societal challenges and contribute to transparency, accountability, and improved public services in the Eastern Partnership countries.

The Hackathon showcased a broad spectrum of civic tech solutions, including an accessibility map and an environmental reporting platform, a budget visualization application and tools for tracking parliamentary activity, an application for young voters, among others. The three days of the Hackathon were intense, filled with masterclasses, individual work with mentors, and hands-on work to craft prototypes of digital solutions. The Hackathon culminated on January 28^th with the nomination of the most promising prototypes for the EaP Civic Tech Award through which the European Union supports the full-fledged development and launch of the best solutions proposed by the Hackathon participants. Five nominees competed for an average EU funding of 10,000 EUR that will help them bring their digital solutions ideas into reality.

Two finalists of the 2024 EaP Civic Tech Hackathon, Hayk Asriyants from Georgia and Tatiana Arcan from Moldova have won the 2024 EaP Civic Tech Award and secured EU funding for the implementation and launch of their projects:

IntegrityLens Web App (Georgia)

This solution aims to enhance the accountability of public officials in Georgia and support civil society activists and journalists in their watchdog roles. The IntegrityLens web app will utilize AI-powered image recognition technology to analyse photos of public officials and identify luxury clothing and accessories. By linking users to publicly available databases of property and income declarations, the app will facilitate anti-corruption investigations and promote accountability in Georgia’s public sector. Piloted for the civil society activists and journalists in Georgia, IntegrityLens has remarkable potential for scaling to cover other Eastern Partnership countries.

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.