Integration through playful Apps:
Creative Ideas at the first EYA Social Hackathon in Vienna
In less than 48 hours 12 young people from 10 different countries developed together with experts from IBM impressive digital solutions for some of today’s most pressing challenges: the refugee movement, migration and integration.
They stood out due to their creativity and problem awareness.
Missing contact to the local population and boredom are often the biggest challenges faced by people who come to another country.
“We wanted to develop something that supports integration between locals and immigrants in a playful way. It should be beneficial for everyone.” stated Robert A. Arrucha from Mexico. Together with his colleagues Mehdi Bizolm from Iran and Robert Živković from Croatia he developed the project “Make my Home”. This digital platform motivates all users to assimilate through a system rewarding common activities.
Under the theme “Think twice, code once” the participants at the Social Hackathon created mobile applications and game ideas in a very short time and were responsible for developing a prototype. Many of the participants originate from other countries but are working in Vienna for a short period of time. This allowed them to bring alternate perspectives and experiences to the conference. They know first-hand how difficult it is to integrate.
Also the applications “find THE doctor” and “SHELP” which were created at this Social Hackathon prove: digital technologies used in a creative way, have a positive impact on society. They all have the chance to win the European Youth Award in the Special category 2016: “Refugee Movement | Integration | Inclusion”.
The creative individuals at the Social Hackathon were supported by IBM experts who gave design- and coding- workshops. For many of the participants it was their first opportunity to use the cloud-platform “Bluemix”. This platform was provided by IBM for free during the Social Hackathon.
“The EYA Social Hackathon was different than all other Hackathons that I have been a part of. There were not only coders and programmers but there were also people who had knowledge in other subject areas. The different backgrounds of all the participants made this a very unique and enriching experience.” stated at Kevin Singer, a student at the Technical University of Vienna.
Innovation arises from creativity and technology. Using these skills to help improve social issues is one of the key values of the young participants and the overall idea of the EYA Social Hackathon.
