Waterhackathon
Note: We wanted to highlight another great project that NASA is supporting under the leadership of the World Bank. You see, the issues involved in insuring a clean water supply in less-developed countries aren’t so different from the issues we face insuring a clean water supply on the Space Station or on other planets. Interested in potential solutions in the water sector? Wonder how NASA and other government agencies can apply their data and the experience to help make the world a better place? Want to know more about how you can participate? ALL kinds of expertise is useful. Read on… and come join us!
What’s a hackathon?A hackathon event is an intensive marathon of brainstorming and programming, where software developers and designers collaborate to create new tools for solving a set of problems.
What is WaterHackathon? WaterHackathon is a hackathon dedicated to hacking problems related to water-related issues, such as:
- access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation
- flooding and drought (i.e., climate change issues)
- irrigation and watershed management
- environmental pollution
When and where is the WaterHackathon? The two-day marathon hacking event will take place October 21 – 23, 2011, with multiple global locations bringing together software developers to hack on real-world water problems. Confirmed sites include: Bangalore, Cairo, Kampala, London, Nairobi, Tel Aviv, and Washington, DC. See waterhackathon.org for more information on individual sites.
On Twitter, organizers and participants will be sharing real-time updates using the hashtag #waterhack. Follow @randomhacks and @WSPWorldBank — join in the conversation!
Who is behind the WaterHackathon? WaterHackathon is organized by the World Bank and Water and Sanitation Program, along with technology partners from NASA and Random Hacks of Kindness and dedicated local partner organizations in each event site. Random Hacks of Kindness is a partnership between Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, HP, NASA and the World Bank. WaterHackathon is supported by the Water Partnership Program.
Who can participate in the hacking?We invite programmers, software designers, GIS specialists, social media experts, graphic designers, translators, along with experts in water-related issues and water users to register at rhok.org/events.
How can non-hackers get involved? Do you have a water-related problem that needs solving? Share it with us. We need water experts and water users from around the world to submit their problems. While not all these problems will lend themselves to technology solutions, we believe documenting pressing local water problems is the first step to breaking down barriers for non-traditional partners. For those problems that do get solved, we will share the solutions and support teams in getting their applications deployed. See examples of water problems.