What is a "Civic Hackathon" and why should I even care?

Most of you must have seen viral articles/videos about life hacks, which share ideas which attempt to improve the reader's/viewer's lifestyle.

Just like "life hackathons" on the web, the purpose of a civic hackathon is to bring young people from the community to share innovative ideas, using technology, which improve their local community. Exciting, isn't it.

Why you should be a part of it?

Well, most of us like to complain about how society has not contributed in any positive way in our life. Fair enough! But rather than complaining, we might as well use our skills to mold the society in a way to how we would ideally like to see the society. Time to get out of the bedroom and use your skills to change the society!

Would your skills be suitable for the civic hackathon?

Before you don your Batman gear, you may consider whether your skillset would be adept at the hackathon. A valid question, indeed.

Well, you are in luck because it's not just the lawyers who mold societies (cases in point, Jinnah, Lincoln, Mandela, Gandhi, Castro, Jerry Springer), rather it's also the engineers, the designers, the "techies", the marketers, even the "constructive criticizers", who play a significant role in making an impact in the society.

Whilst the civic hackathon centers around technology, people holding a different skillset play a significant role. Most of you would agree that whilst functionality of a technology is of great significance, most of us purchase products which look beautiful. Similarly, a group of people could produce an earth shattering product but with no dissemination of information, people would not know about it. And without constructive criticism from normal, everyday users, the creators would not know how user friendly the "tech" really is and whether it even appeals to the masses.

So, what are you waiting for, join us at The Hive, this weekend on 16th & 17th July.

And in the meanwhile, follow us on Code for Pakistan Twitter and Facebook to stay updated about what's going on. See you!