#UnitedNationsOfInnovation
Innovate Europe Hackathon Series
The regional office of the European Dialogue program organized, in cooperation with the dialogue's project offices and liberal partners, a series of social and political hackathons across the region.
Three hackathons taking place in Budapest, Athens, and Prague had one goal: finding innovative solutions to pressing topics in their societies. In groups of up to 4 individuals, young people experienced two days of input, training and mentoring sessions, accompanying their project developments.
Budapest
In Budapest, the Hackathon looked for innovative answers to the imminent threat of “fake news”. The participants immersed themselves into a case scenario based on the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The winning project SPHOAX comprises verification and gamification approaches, to spot disinformation and fake news in news articles, social media, private messaging, and DeepFake videos. SPHOAX, a wordplay of the words "spot" and "hoax", the game offers an interactive environment for users to be more vigilant, while enhancing research through data.
The Hackathon in Budapest was organized in partnership with the Indítsuk Be Magyarországot Foundation.
Athens
In Athens, we sought to understand the diverse forms and challenges of integration and how to bridge the gaps in fields such as gender equality, migration and media literacy.
The winning team NEDI devised a strategy and online platform to tackle the growing gap in media literacy. Spanning from educational tools for practitioners in schools, up to equipping adults for life-long learning and job search, their ready-to-implement approach showed great potential to equip every individual in our society with the same tools for becoming digital citizens.
Prague
In Prague, we found innovative answers to strengthening free and democratic societies. The winning project “Fair Advertising” debated (unintended) advertising on fake news portals by respectable companies. Their “Fair Advertising” brand on Twitter and their website certifies responsible ad use and puts pressure on big advertising networks to develop their own policies on the matter. Their work has already sparked media attention.
The Hackathon in Prague was organized in partnership with the Institute for Politics and Society.
We are happy to see that young people are not only invested in finding innovative solutions to issues of our time, but are also actively participating in tackling them and are promoting liberal values across the European Union!