Code For Cuba

Develop applications that can be launched in Cuba to facilitate (1)
connectivity/access to information, (2) entrepreneurship and (3)
journalism and digital advocacy.

Roots of Hope, a nongovernmental organization focused on empowering
youth in Cuba through technology and entrepreneurship, is hosting a
two-day hackathon in the San Francisco Bay Area at Facebook Headquarters.

The project is Roots of Hope's second annual liberation/circumvention
tech hackathon focused on solutions for the Cuban context. Cuba is the
least connected and technologically capacitated country in the Western
hemisphere, but it is also a country with a talented workforce and an
ever-growing number of innovative solutions that leverage technology.
The goal of this hackathon is to develop ideas and applications that can
be launched into the Cuban reality and inform and empower a broader
community around the topics of technology and innovation in Cuba. This
year's theme, Connectivity, Digital Activism & Entrepreneurial
Empowerment, encourages greater dialogue, free speech, and
knowledge-sharing. Join us in building solutions for Cubans on the
island so they may connect more-readily to the rest of the world.

Roots of Hope's first hackathon was hosted in Miami in January 2014,
yielding great results and establishing the conversation around what
innovative technology solutions can meet for Cuba. Check out the winning
ideas from the Miami hackathon:

Apretaste, an online marketplace - similar to Craigslist - which allows
users to purchase and sell goods and services directly from one another.
Apretaste is completely functional via email, making it accessible to
the over 60% of Cuba's population with email access. The application has
launched and has more than 40,000 monthly users in Cuba.

Cuba Direct, an email-based application which allows users to access
Google searches, Wikipedia articles, Twitter updates and more, without
needing a connection to the Internet, and therefore making it accesible
to over 60% of Cubans.

Raspberry Pi, a credit-card-sized single-board computer, was adapted to
allow Cubans on the island to create web access points for sharing
information with those in their vicinity.

For more information about Roots of Hope, visit http://www.rootsofhope.org.

Source: http://codeforcuba.challengepost.com/