The increased influx of refugees into Europe is proving to be a major challenge to the continent’s nations.
Some aspects of this challenge could be solved by Europe’s tech and startup community, helping either the refugees themselves, or the people and organisations who are helping them. Begun in London, #TechFugees is now a pan-European initiative. The model is widely familiar to every geek – a hackathon, with ad-hoc teams – but with a few differences. In Warsaw, technologists, scientists, and designers are brought together in a two-week hacking sprint, based at the University of Warsaw’s Digital Economy Lab, and collaborating with other #TechFugees projects around Europe to co-ordinate efforts, maximise impact and minimise duplication.
Programme
- Friday 6 November: briefing, context presentations, generation of ideas and formation of teams
- Week till following Friday: team research, plan and design their solutions
- Friday 13 November: review, mentoring and comparing of notes
- Week till following Friday: hacks away!
- Friday 20 November: demo day
This #Techfugee makes a point of looking for ways to find value in this influx of people, instead of merely problems to be solved, with the idea of building connections between different appropriate disciplines.
If you are a developer, designer, economist, social scientist, in fact, anyone interested in contributing to your knowledge and skills, we invite you to sign up at https://goo.gl/forms/JDcp0DQKVg2 with the University of Warsaw’s Digital Economy Lab!
#TechFugees is a community initiative. The University of Warsaw provides the facilities. The aim is to give time and brainpower. Nobody is getting paid, and while they are working on getting sponsorship, any funds they receive will help them to make the event more impactful and more enjoyable for participants. Contributing is its reward.
You can also register at https://goo.gl/forms/JDcp0DQKVg2 | Or contact: techfugees (at) delab.uw.edu.pl
Emma is a telecom engineer, fond of fantasy books and RPGs
