More than 100 participants envisioned ways to use new technologies to help youth caught in conflict at #HackingConflict, a #DiploHack challenge in Ottawa. Six cross-disciplinary teams, bringing students, diplomats, “techies,” and social entrepreneurs together, raced against the clock to produce innovative solutions to old problems.
DiploHackers mostly came from Canada, but also the Netherlands and UK, with online participation from Syria, Kenya, Ukraine and elsewhere.
The event was visited by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Bert Koenders, and The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Robert Nicholson, among others.
Three winning ideas were recognized with awards:
- The Judges Award, selected at #HackingConflict by a panel of expert judges, was awarded to Team B for Disrupt the Chain: End Barrel Bombs in Syria. Disrupt the Chain seeks to enable crowd-sourced enforcement of UNSC Resolution 2139 to uncover the Syrian barrel bomb supply chain, with a view to undermining the Assad regime’s ability to use barrel bombs, and to build an evidentiary base for international condemnation, sanctions, legal action, and boycott campaigns. This initiative aims to aggregate documentation to degrade the supply chain that enables the Syrian regime’s barrel bombing campaigns.
- The Compatriots Award was selected at #HackingConflict by event participants and went to Team D for TruthDetective, a mobile app. Propaganda and misinformation are rife in the current crisis in Ukraine, perpetuating conflict and complicating the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2202 (Ukraine Ceasefire). The goal of TruthDetective is to educate and build critical thinking skills of young individuals, who are active in binding the truth, through a game that tests photo and video verification skills.
- The Vox Populi Award was chosen by popular online vote and was awarded to Team C for Connect Her/Connectées, a free SMS and call based service that links sexual violence survivors in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to community-based first responders who provide emergency medical care and support within those crucial 72 hours. The solution helps to uphold UNSC Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security).
The Judges Award was presented at #HackingConflict by the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, with congratulations from His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands.
Voting was extremely close for the Vox Populi Award, with the winning team coming in just 3 points ahead of the competition. Scroll over the pie chart below for more information on the online voting distribution:
All team presentations and ideas can be viewed here.
#HackingConflict took place on May 27-28, 2015 in Ottawa and was co-organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The SecDev Foundation, the Canadian International Council and in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development. The event commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and pays tribute to the Canadian-Dutch bonds of friendship and like-mindedness in the field of international peace and security.