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October 21, 2011 Hackathon Projects

SIRUM

Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine (SIRUM) is an innovative nonprofit organization committed to reducing barriers to health for underserved populations. Incubated at Stanford University, SIRUM draws from the academic and technology expertise of faculty and alumni to strengthen its impact and efficiency. SIRUM has become a leader in prescription drug donations, providing consulting and technical assistance to county governments, community clinics and multiple drug donor groups to establish redistribution programs.

The project will be in PHP.

Echo

echo is a joint Open Source project for active citizen participation - available worldwide and for all people. Its comprehensive approach is designed to address a core problem of our time: the political resignation and feelings of powerlessness of the individual.

The project will be in Ruby on Rails and JavaScript.

CodeNow

CodeNow is a non-profit focused on developing the next pioneers in technology by teaching underserved youth foundational skills in computer science and programming to narrow the digital divide. CodeNow teaches high school students the basics of computer programming and computer science in free, extra-curricular, off-campus boot camps hosted by non-profit and community partners across the country. Achieving these goals will: 1) Create job opportunities for underserved youth, 2) Create a pool of talent for American companies and deter companies from sending jobs abroad, 3) Improve the national security of the United States by providing homegrown talent for the military and government, and 4) Be a catalyst for reforming the education system, making computer science and programming part of the core curriculum for students of all levels.

This project will involve creating exercises and assignments to help kids learn programming. Hackers on this project will work on designing assignments and thinking about how kids learn programming.

Project Yele

Project Yele's mission is Creating sustainable economic perspectives for people in Yele, Sierra Leone. eLuma brings electricity to market in Temne. Project Yele's goal is to generate strategic development from electricity the eLuma will be built. This will be a business center which will host small businesses and local entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs will be able to use electricity, cooling, water and light to add value to their business and communities. Also financial services and coaching services will be provided to kickstart the economy. Furthermore, Project Yele aims to improve living conditions of the local population by redirecting profits of the eLuma into local social facilities like clean drinking water facility and medical services to support the well-being of the local population.

The project will either involve Android programming or Arduino programming.

Anjna

Anjna Patient Education is the first organization of its kind to specifically target free clinics for the purpose of providing quality health education programs to socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. Studies have shown that common diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, and depression are heavily prevalent amongst patients who are from the lowest socioeconomic tier, resulting in rising healthcare expenses that further exacerbate their circumstances. In addition, free clinics are often restricted to a very narrow budget and thus are unable to provide quality education programs to their patients. Our organization seeks to break this cycle of unfortunate circumstances by educating and empowering patients in free clinics.

The project will involve making an Android-tablet-optimized web app to provide interactive patient education.

New Leaf

New Leaf is a platform for communities to work collaboratively, design creatively, and solve strategically towards sustainability. That's the official purpose statement, but mostly what we do is find ways to take the concept of strategic sustainability and bring it to life for people. Sustainability has lost its meaning over the past few years as it has been overused and greenwashed. We believe that the best way to make it relevant again to society is by providing immersive experiences for people to apply it to what they are passionate about. We believe collaboration is key to bring various sectors and industries together to co-create a sustainable future.

The project will be in JavaScript. Knowledge of node.js or TokBox are pluses.

InSTEDD

At InSTEDD we envision a world where communities everywhere design and use technology to continuously improve their health, safety and development. Founded in 2006 in California’s Silicon Valley with seed funding from Google.org and the Rockefeller Foundation, InSTEDD has been working around the world to implement this vision, including the launch of innovation laboratories or “iLabs” in Southeast Asia and Latin America, which are fostering collaborative engineering practices and entrepreneurial innovation in those regions.

The project will be in Ruby on Rails

John Gardener Center

At the John W. Gardner Center (JGC) at Stanford University, we partner with local communities to support their efforts to continually renew themselves, by way of developing well-rounded young people who are successful—intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially—and who in turn are motivated to contribute to their communities, both as leaders and as responsible participants.

The project will involve making an Android tablet app.

Mobilizing Health

Mobilizing Health, a non-profit based in California, is committed to increasing access to emergency and preventative health care for rural populations through the use of mobile technology. We connect villagers in the developing world to licensed practitioners using an SMS platform. Through this simple and cost-effective design, we will help the most vulnerable members of our society battle the poor health outcomes that are a result of lack of access to healthcare, poverty, underprivileged environment, and other social injustices. Mobilizing Health provides access to basic preventive health care information, which will be an integral part of an equitable, comprehensive healthcare system. Ultimately, we will be able to combat neglected chronic diseases such as cardiovascular illnesses and diabetes and play a major role in eradicating malaria and tuberculosis.

The project will be in Ruby on Rails and JavaScript.

JSS

The Raxa JSS EMR is an information management system ("Raxa") designed for and to be initially implemented at the Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS), a healthcare non-governmental organization (NGO) working in a largely rural, underserved community in India. Jan Swasthya Sahyog is a voluntary, non-profit, registered society founded by a group of health professionals committed to developing a low-cost and effective health program that provides both preventive and curative services in the tribal and rural areas of Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh state in central India.

This project will use HTML5, CSS3 and JQuery.

Stanford Liberation Technologies

The Program on Liberation Technology seeks to understand how information technology can be used to defend human rights, improve governance, empower the poor, promote economic development, and pursue a variety of other social goods.

Buck Institute on Aging Research The Buck Institute is the nation’s first independent research facility focused solely on understanding the connection between aging and chronic disease. Our mission is to increase the healthy years of life.

AIDS Housing Alliance

AIDS Housing Alliance/SF believes in a world where all people have a safe, decent and affordable home. Toward that vision we prevent homelessness for people with HIV/AIDS by protecting the housing we already have, providing resources to secure new housing, and promoting public policy to expand opportunity for all. Our goal is to become the largest housing services provider and largest employer of people with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco.

Note: the above descriptions were provided by each organization or were found on their websites. We don't expect this list to change much, but we may add or remove a project or two.