Coding to save the world
An article by Marta Ocaña and Laura Moñino
The first idea that comes to mind when we think about programming is usually related to the economic activity that large companies use to profit while innovating technologically. Nothing could be further from the truth: there are hundreds of thousands of people who learn to code because they want to help make this world a better place for other people.
In this article we wanted to bring some examples of programming and data processing for social purposes.
CALL OF DATA 2018
The Call of Data is an Spanish event with a gender perspective that revolves around Data Science. The 2018 edition was held on June 2 and 3. During the second day the Datatón took place, in which teams of maximum 4 people participate and in which at least 50% have to be female.
A challenge was provided by Acción Contra el Hambre. They made available to the teams a data set from which proposing solutions to address the problem of hunger in Africa. The teams made their proposals, all bright and exciting, and these are some examples that we have found on Twitter:
- Predictive models by countries to prevent the risk of future famines based on socioeconomic indicators.
- Tools to define if the child population needs to be treated for malnutrition.
- Analysis of the suitability of zones in Niger for the cultivation of moringa, the plant that could help eradicate hunger in the world.
- Proposal for a new indicator of political instability in developing countries.
FREE CODE CAMP AND OPEN SOURCE FOR GOOD
Free Code Camp is an open source community that helps you learn to code, build pro bono projects for nonprofits, and get a job as a developer. This is how Quincy Larson, Free Code Camp’s creator, describes this project.
In 2016, Free Code Camp launched ‘Open Source for Good’, which is a way for Free Code campers to return to Free Code Camp the coding skills learning services supplied. Once campers have got over the learning process, they need to face a real project. This need connects perfectly with the necessity in nonprofits of having access to free quality open source apps.
For instance, Free Code campers built a tool for Chasdei Kaduri , a food bank in Toronto, which helped the food bank team to minimize administrative overhead, reduce errors, and ultimately increase their efficiency.
There are several other organizations or networks that connect volunteer programmers with social or non-profit organizations that need computer science work. Here are some of them:
- Code for Social Good: they have almost 1500 registered volunteers from various technological fields and 75 projects currently in search of an ICT
- Code the Change: code the Change is a community of computer science students using their skills for social change. They as spread to campuses across the US and Canada.
- Social Coder: behind Social Coder we found Ed Guiness, an independent software developer from London. Social Coder joins software developers seeking volunteer opportunities with humanitarian, free open source projects.
An example of social use is given in games to facilitate learning or approach to programming, either for childrens, as may be the case with Blockly Games, a series of educational games that teach programming and it is designed for children who have not had prior experience with computer programming.
Another case is Code Combat that it’s a game that teaches programming (javascript or Python) to learners as young as 6.
With this article we want to encourage you to investigate near you, surely you will find some options that suit your interests. It doesn’t matter if you are starting to code or you are already an experienced professional. Participating in programming projects with a social purpose is a great way to practice and learn while generating social change.
