Accountability Lab announces the opening of applications for its next anti-corruption hackathon in Albania

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Washington D.C., 23 July 2024 - Accountability Lab (AL) and its partners are preparing to host participants in Albania for an innovative anti-corruption hackathon in the Balkans. Up to 75 change-makers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia will work together from 19 to 22 September, creating tech tools that combat corruption. Participants will receive fully-funded trips to participate in the event and applications are open at https://accountlab.typeform.com/HackBalkans until August 14. 

Teams with the most promising ideas will be eligible to receive financial support of up to $10,000, mentorship, and ongoing training to help them build out their ideas. Participants will also collaborate at a 3-day intensive in-person boot camp in Albania in November. AL is hosting HackCorruption in partnership with Development Gateway: An IREX Venture and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). We will also be working with the Open Gov Hub Albania for this event. 

The main goal of the hackathon is to fight corruption by encouraging new and creative uses of technology to identify and address gaps in accountability and to build a system with integrity. Technologists, civil society professionals, activists or students with an interest in creating tools to fight corruption and make your country more transparent are invited to apply. There are four problem sets that the hackathon will cover: (1) budget and ownership transparency; (2) open contracting and transparency of public procurement; (3) climate finance transparency; and (4) preventing activities or enablers related to the illicit flow of financial resources. The hackathon is supported by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement at the U.S. Department of State and the USAID Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development. 

AL Co-CEO and Chief Learning and Agility officer, Cheri-Leigh Erasmus, said the project aims to bring together a diverse collective of people to create new tools that bridge accountability gaps in the focus areas identified. "The target countries have excellent technologists, journalists, CSO professionals, and researchers tackling corruption on the frontlines, and we're excited to see what ideas surface through this event. HackCorruption Balkans also offers participants an opportunity to build solutions that deter and counter transnational corruption, which is a critical challenge within the region," Erasmus said. Previous winning hackathon teams are working on several tech tools in the procurement, budget and climate justice space, among others. Development Gateway is also developing an open-source AI tool for HackCorruption that will allow anti-corruption work to be done more efficiently and on a larger scale.

Applicants to HackCorruption Balkans should be a citizen of one of the 4 target countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. US citizens or lawful permanent residents are not eligible. Teams and individuals are invited to apply. 

For further information, visit www.hackcorruption.org/albania 

About Accountability Lab: Accountability Lab is a global translocal network of Labs that is building an ecosystem for accountability around the world. We aim to make governance work for people everywhere so that resources are used wisely, decisions benefit everyone fairly, and people lead secure lives.

About CIPE: CIPE was founded on the principle that economic freedom and political freedom are linked. Its work centers on building strong democratic institutions to create an enabling environment for business and entrepreneurship to flourish

About Development Gateway: An IREX Venture: DG builds systems, dashboards, and tools to create more effective, open, and engaging institutions.Through implementations across sectors and contexts, it advises governments, agencies, and organizations to better monitor, evaluate, and use data.

Disclaimer: This initiative is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of Accountability Lab and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.