#BuildwithAT #WeloveNerds #WomenInTech

Overview:

Join Africa’s Talking Women in Tech Kampala for an exciting hackathon focused on Legal & Policy Advocacy, exploring how technology can improve access to legal information, policies, and community resources.

This hackathon brings together developers, innovators, students, creatives, entrepreneurs, and technology enthusiasts to explore how technology can improve access to legal information, policies, and important guidelines that affect individuals, businesses, and communities.

Policies and legal frameworks play an important role in different areas of society, including education, technology, agriculture, business, health, and community development. However, many people often face challenges accessing, understanding, or keeping updated with information that affects their daily lives.

Through this hackathon, participants will build innovative technology solutions that make legal and policy information easier to access, understand, and share with communities.

Using Africa’s Talking APIs such as SMS, USSD, Voice, Airtime, Payments, and Chat, participants will create practical solutions that improve communication, provide reliable information, and help bridge the gap between policies and the people they serve.

Whether you are a developer, student, entrepreneur, researcher, or passionate about technology for community impact, this hackathon is an opportunity to collaborate, build solutions, and explore how technology can make legal and policy information more accessible for everyone.

Why Attend?

Make Legal and Policy Information Accessible

Create solutions that simplify access to important legal information, policies, and guidelines.

Examples:

• Platforms that organize policies and guidelines in an easy-to-understand format

• SMS notifications sharing important updates

• USSD platforms providing information to users without internet access

• Voice-based services allowing people to access information through phone calls

Build Solutions That Educate Communities

Use technology to create awareness and help people better understand information that affects their lives.

Examples:

• Education policy information platforms

• Digital awareness tools

• Community information services

• Platforms explaining available opportunities and requirements

Learn Through Building

Gain practical experience developing solutions using Africa’s Talking APIs while solving real-world information access challenges.

Participants will explore how communication technologies can reach different communities and provide useful information through accessible channels.

Connect With Other Innovators

Collaborate with developers, creatives, entrepreneurs, and technology enthusiasts who are passionate about using technology to solve community challenges.

Showcase Your Solutions

Present your ideas, receive feedback, and connect with a wider technology community.

Key Focus Areas:

1. Legal Information Access

Build solutions that help people easily access and understand legal information.

Examples:

• Platforms providing simplified legal information

• SMS services sharing legal awareness content

• Voice-based information services

• Digital platforms connecting people with legal resources

2. Policy Awareness and Education

Create solutions that help communities understand policies and guidelines affecting different areas of life.

Examples:

• Platforms explaining policies in simple language

• SMS updates about important policies

• Information systems organizing policies by topic

• Digital platforms making policy documents easier to access

3. Education Policy Information

Develop solutions that improve access to education-related policies and information.

Examples:

• Platforms sharing information about education guidelines

• SMS notifications about education opportunities

• Student and parent information services

• Tools helping learners understand available resources

4. Technology Policies and Digital Awareness

Create solutions that help communities understand and navigate technology-related guidelines.

Examples:

• Digital literacy platforms

• Information services about online safety

• Platforms sharing technology-related guidelines

• Tools helping users understand digital services

5. Agriculture and Community Information

Develop solutions that improve access to agricultural and community-related policies and information.

Examples:

• SMS information services for farmers

• Voice platforms sharing agricultural information

• Platforms connecting communities with useful resources

• Information services for small businesses and local communities

6. Community Feedback and Engagement

Build solutions that help communities communicate, ask questions, and share feedback.

Examples:

• SMS feedback platforms

• Community information channels

• Voice-based communication systems

• Platforms connecting organizations and communities

Target Attendees:

This hackathon is open to:

• Software Developers and Engineers

• Students and Technology Enthusiasts

• Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders

• Product Builders and Innovators

• Creatives and Digital Innovators

• Researchers

• Legal and policy enthusiasts

• Community builders

• Anyone interested in using technology to improve access to information

What to Expect:

🚀 Hands-on Building: Turn ideas into working solutions that improve access to legal and policy information.

🤝 Networking: Connect with women in technology, developers, mentors, and industry professionals.

💡 Learning Opportunities: Discover how communication technologies can support information accessibility.

🎓 Mentorship: Receive guidance and feedback throughout the hackathon.

🏆 Recognition and Rewards: Showcase your project and receive recognition for your innovation.

Solution Criteria:

• Use of Africa's Talking APIs: How effectively the project utilizes one or more of the Africa's Talking APIs i.e. SMS, USSD, Airtime, Voice, Insights, Chat.

• Innovation: The originality and creativity of the project idea and implementation.

• User Experience: How well the project meets user needs and provides an intuitive and seamless experience.

• Functionality: How well the project performs the intended functionality and handles errors and edge cases.

• Presentation: The clarity and effectiveness of the project demonstration and pitch.

New to Africa's Talking? Get started here.

Publish on Africa's Talking Marketplace

Marketplace : Publish your plugin/app for our customer and Call Back as a Service

Developer Documentation (We welcome feedback)

THEME: Legal & Policy Advocacy

The winning solution will receive cash prizes as follows:

• Winner - $100

• 1st Runners Up - $50

• 2nd Runners Up - $25

Social Media give-aways too!

More exclusive prizes and giveaways to attendees.

Contribute to open-source.

Agenda:

1. Introductions

2. Overview

• Technical hands-on session

3. Ideation

• Form teams where need be.

• Feedback

4. Building and Testing: Teams develop their solutions, integrate Africa’s Talking APIs, test their ideas, and prepare their demonstrations.

5. Demonstration and Wrap-up

• Teams or individuals will demonstrate what they have hacked for feedback or adoption.

Note: Carry a laptop

Opportunities:

• Network

• Innovate

• Access to our Talent bench (You can get a job or a gig on the spot)

Join our community channels:

• Community Page:

  • Join Africa's Talking Women In Tech Community here

• Twitter (X):

  • Follow Our Page on X here

Africa's Talking powers communications solutions across Africa with simplified access to telco infrastructure, developers use our powerful SMS, USSD, Voice, Airtime and Data, Insights, and Chat APIs to bring their ideas to life, as they build and sustain scalable businesses.

Africa's Talking community allows developers to learn skills for the modern-day African Developer. We are language and framework agnostic. All developers are welcome. This is where Africa's Talking developers community meets to build, learn and exchange knowledge.

We are helping software developers and businesses to bring their ideas to life through easy-to-use APIs quickly.

Would you like to partner with us? Kindly contact the Women in Technology Team. 

Everyone is welcome!