60-Hour CODEATHON: BudgIT Asks Six Challenge Questions

During the Codeathon at IdeaHub from Friday to Sunday, citizens have an opportunity to build platforms and tools that can address issues affecting the lives of citizens. Below are six different challenges that can be married with technology for an improved society.

Challenge One

Challenge: How can we increase and sustain public interest in corruption cases from arraignment to the conclusion of cases? What information is of greatest interest to citizens?  How can citizens track the status of each case? When is the next adjournment/resumption date? Can a searchable database of all on-going corruption trials be built that tracks what assets the anti-corruption agency recovered from corruption cases, what property/asset the accused forfeited, etc?

Challenge Two

Challenge: Can we improve transparency and accountability by building a platform or tool that tracks security spending across all government agencies? Can budgets be linked to spending and outcomes including increased safety and security for citizens?  Can the platform include security-related spending and contracts approved by Federal Executive Council?  Could we make this information easier for citizens to understand and use to hold elected officials and government servants more accountable?

 Challenge Three

Challenge: Can we build tools that make it easier to report and track petty crimes, allows for reporting these incidents to the police using web and mobile application that automatically gives a crime reference number?

 Challenge Four

Challenge: How could we improve access to information about local police stations for all citizens?  Can we build a searchable directory for police station contact details?

Challenge Five

Challenge: Is there a way we can use technology to make it easier for citizens to match their needs to the appropriate agencies? Can a platform be built that can give accurate information to the public? Can the public use the search function to find the right organisation or agency to contact when they input the crime they want to report?

Challenge Six

Challenge: Can we build a one-stop platform to catalogue all FOI requests and responses? Can this platform show the date a request was made and when the response was received?  Can the platform allow people who have sent out the request to make the request and response public?  Can it allow them to state if the response was satisfactory or not? Can the platform allow for categorisation of the requests and responses? Will there be an administrator for the platform to answer questions and comments from the public?

Come to Idea Hub, 296, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Lagos as we build applications that scale citizen engagement and institutional reform. Join any of the group to build what works. The ideas will be nested in CSOs for scaling. Visit civiccodeathon.com for more.

For more:

Friday 25 April 2014 – Idea Pitching and Event Definition

Saturday 26 April 2014 – Codeathon begins

Sunday 27 April 2014 – Codeathon continues with announcement of winners and support.