What do you call a group of talented hackers in the European Parliament for a 24-hour window, enjoying free food while improving data transparency? We call it Hack4Transparency, and it’s not your everyday hackathon. Google is proud to be one of the sponsors of this upcoming event, a code sprint this November 8-9 that, literally, brings code to law. This is the first ever hacking event within the premises of European government, taking place in the heart of Brussels and giving dedicated hackers an opportunity to bring the power of good code to the place where it can matter most.
Over the course of 24 hours, hackers will work to make data more accessible and intelligible to consumers, to government, and to anyone who’s interested in the state of Internet access and information availability around the world.
Hackers will work along two tracks. The Internet Quality track focuses on making broadband performance data meaningful to the average consumer by improving the user interfaces of existing broadband measurement tools. The Global Transparency track asks hackers to take data from existing sources including Google’s Transparency Report, the Open Net Initiative, and Herdict, and using these sources to create compelling visualizations showing what type of Internet content is available or unavailable to users.
There will be free food, free WiFi, and the opportunity to win prizes while working with a lot of cool people dedicated to making big improvements.
Applicants that are selected to attend will have their travel and accommodations covered, and winning hackers on each track will receive €3.000.
If you're an EU-based hacker and you want fun, food, a free vacation, and the opportunity to make a big impact, we invite you to apply.
The deadline for applications is Monday, October 10, noon CET.
By Marco Pancini, Google Sr. Policy Counsel, Brussels
