#AccHack16: themes, special guests & a call to arms!
Well gang … it’s tomorrow! Can I get a HELL YEAH…
Yes, tomorrow we shall be back together at the National Audit Office for what we are sure will be another galvanising two days of driving forward change using technology and open data. With great anticipation and excitement, we wanted to share with you how the weekend has come together.
Special Guests
This year, Team Rebel are delighted to welcome three important figures in the civic technology and digital democracy space to ensure Accountability Hack 2016 kicks off with great insight and inspiration.
Our keynote this year comes from Janet Hughes, former director of GOV.UK Verify and member of the Executive Management Committee of the Government Digital Service. After taking Verify from beta to live with huge success, Janet left her home of four years at GDS to find the next challenge. She will be speaking of her journey towards making government services more open, functional and proactive, and will also pop up on Sunday as one of our judges.
In the first of our two lightning talks, we will hear from Kathryn Corrick about her work as COO of Represent, the platform delivering open governance locally, nationally and internationally for individuals, communities, groups and organisations.
To round off our introductions, WebRoots Democracy CEO Areeq Chowdhury will give us an insight into the work he is spearheading with the Institute for Digital Democracy’s efforts to modernise, enhance, and future-proof democracy in the UK.
A call to arms!
We’re feeling it, and we know you must be too. There is a certain level of exhaustion and disenfranchisement that comes from making it to November in the year that has been nothing other than a political punchbag.
That’s why, for Accountability Hack 2016, we’re asking you to bring a friend that might not normally come to an event like this, but has opinions to give and frustrations to channel into making positive change. From last year we know tech expertise is not a requisite; researchers, enthusiasts, civil servants, politics students and everyone in between has something to contribute.
As well as widening our community and broadening our reach, referring a friend gives you the chance of winning an Amazon Echo Dot. Sometimes all we need is a little push in the right direction so please do share this weekend’s event far and wide.
Challenges
In a slight break from tradition, we are moving away from a solely challenge-focused hackathon this year. While there is still one partner-proposed challenge, alongside this we will be introducing looser themes under which participants can ideate and prototype.
We hope a slightly more open approach, alongside a traditional challenge, will enable a new depth and variety of projects to come from Accountability Hack 2016, many of which we hope will form the basis of on-going work for government departments and civic digital teams in the coming months.
NAO Partner challenge:
The most innovative use of WGA data to throw a light on government spending.
Themes:
Engagement
This theme is very much a tale of two halves. While the UK is registering its largest voter turnout in almost 20 years (66.4% in 2015 general election, 72.2% in the 2016 EU Referendum) these results still represent a third and over a quarter, respectively, who did not make their voice heard. Additionally, while numbers are increasing for bigger votes, we have to ask how engaged people are with smaller elections; with the workings of government departments, or with matters of everyday politics that can and do affect their lives?
On the flipside, social media has seen engagement in political conversations soar — for both better and worse. However, the danger of this has been felt on both sides of the Atlantic this year; our social bubbles have become echo-chambers where we preach to our fellow converted, and can leave us dangerously out of touch with the pace of the greater political pulse.
Accountability
This one might seem obvious, but it is the lynchpin of a successful democracy. There are many guises accountability can take within government, not least in the current political climate. Rather than attach a theme of accountability to a specific department or dataset, this year we hope participants will think about ways in which accountability can impact the wider political landscape; voting, campaigning, lobbying etc.
Solved?
Throughout AccHack’s bright and successful tenure, there has been a history of representatives from government departments voicing problems they face in their day-to-day jobs, alongside members of the civic tech community coming up against issues with the state of the data. Sometimes steps are taken to fix these issues, but oftentimes such a project doesn’t fit into a challenge. This year, under the theme ‘Solved?’ we are giving participants the chance to help each other solve problems that will make progress and the everyday so much easier.
Within all of our themes, originality, thinking outside the box and even erring on the side of the controversial is encouraged. After all, it wouldn’t be a political event without a healthy dose of controversy now would it?!
Join us remotely!
Finally, if you can’t make it at all, can only make it to Sunday, or you know of someone else not able to join us in person, it might interest you to know we’ve added a remote option for this year.
Remote participants will be able to watch our live stream of the opening talks, chat with other participants on the UKGovCamp Slack or Twitter, and add your datasets and ideas to the AccHack Hackpad. Projects can also be submitted alongside a short video presentation for consideration by our esteemed judges.
That’s all folks. Please do share this post far and wide to garner last minute support for what we are sure is going to be the best Accountability Hack yet. See you tomorrow!
