The term ‘hackathons’ brings to the mind groups of geeks collaborating to find solutions to complex issues. Seldom does one associate it with crafting software and hardware prototypes that offer solutions to humanitarian issues. Random Hacks of Kindness is a global community that aims to offer such solutions. The RHoK community in India is part of a global effort, with branches across the world. During the recent floods in Chennai, the group conducted a number of hacks and brainstorming sessions, to help address issues of health and hygiene that many flood-hit areas faced once the waters receded.
The communities conduct hackathons twice a year to create tech-based solutions for disaster and gender-related issues, and are supported by big corporates .
Chinmayi SK, a 28-year-old Bangalore-based software professional, has been heading the India chapter of RHoK since 2013. She says, “Over the past couple of years, we have conducted hackathons across the country, each focussing on resolving a humanitarian issue. We have been involved in many projects, such as creating pamphlets during the floods in Chennai, creating prototypes against gender violence and providing solutions to issues faced by the differently abled. We take the help of experts in these fields, and look at finding both software and hardware solutions. One of our most successful hacks was creating a prototype for a panic button on Android phones, which allowed women to alert the police.”
She adds, “When we started out, one of the main issues we faced was that interest in finding solutions to issues discussed at the hackathons would vanish once the events concluded. In many cases, nothing productive came out of these events. In an attempt to change that, we aim to provide a sustenance programme to ensure that solutions continue to be worked on. We started with using data supplied by the large companies that supported the campaigns and focussed on natural disasters. As we set up local communities, we started to pay attention to local issues as well. In 2013, we set up communities across India. At a global level, we are planning at using data to find solutions to many of the issues that confront us.”
