Data journalism is the future

All the apps hacked over the weekend are works in progress and will still need to be refined further, with the Hackathon acting as a catalyst and an opportunity for proof of concept. All the apps will be published on soon, with their coding and the data sets that were used, for anyone who wants to use them, or work further on them.

Winning apps

The winner was an app that maps South African NGOs, listing where they are and what they do, plus contact details, a dream tool for government, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens. Further data, like census details, health stats and more will be overlaid, as they become available, adding to the usefulness of the tool.

The runner-up was SchoolReport, an app which allows pupils to raise issues and problems at their schools before they spin out of control. It also gives details of all SA's schools, including location, pupil numbers, class sizes and available resources, helping parents decided where to send their kids.

Al Jazeera, who were following the hackathon via Twitter (#CTHack) has asked to be connected to the development team with a view to collaborate.

The next Hackathon

The next meetup in Cape Town will be hosted by HacksHackers, a global movement that connects journalists and geeks, expected to take place on 4 September at the Bandwidth Barn, to take a deep dive into data visualisation with the folk from afrographique.tumblr.com.

The aim will be to hack useful apps for journalists that will help make sense of the city, like tools to track problems and resources available, and so help deepen reporting.

Code4Democracy is also heading to Johannesburg, in partnership with the Praekelt Foundation and the local HacksHackers chapter, on a still-to-be-decided date in September.

Join HacksHackers

HacksHackers is now signing up members to grow the chapter. To get involved and participate, apply for membership at HacksHackers-Cape Town or HacksHackers-Johannesburg.

For more, go to codingfordemocracy.org