Google for Startups Campus Warsaw, Poland
January 20-22, 2023

Ukrainian-European Hackathon on Disinformation

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1991 Hackathon: Media

focuses on identifying digital solutions countering disinformation, media manipulation, and other relevant media-related tracks.

We are looking for tech projects in the thematic areas:

Algorithms and Automation Tools
  • Tools for generating trends
  • Mapping of news
  • Plugins to spot fake news/biased media
  • ML and AI instruments for fact-checking
Real-Time News and Data Monitoring
  • Analysis of groups and channels
  • Cyrillic social networks
  • Notifications about news events
User Education and Cybersecurity
  • Cyber hygiene education apps
  • Cyber checkup plugins/apps
Strategic Communications
  • Tools for planning comms campaigns
  • Tools for journalists and media
  • Impact and influence measurement
Open Data and Transparency
  • Open-source data analysis and verification
  • Data visualization and APIs
  • Tools for source tracking
Big Tech and Responsible Advertising
  • Creative verification tools
  • Instruments for marking and reporting
  • API use and cross-platform aggregators

Benefits

Total prize fund of $2,500 for projects development
Professional mentorship for the winners' teams during one month after the hackathon. It includes access to the 1991 network of startups, investors and experts, individual meetings and consultations, tech support
Implementation of projects with the support from government and private sector
Work on projects with subject-matter experts and specialists

Participants

journalists
editors
media managers
media entrepreneurs
IT specialists
programmers
developers
activists who are eager to use technology
culture, and media to create new initiatives
I'm In →

Timeline

Till January
20
2023
Registration for participants
January
20
2023
Openning with mini-conference
January
21-22
2023
Hackathon
January
22
2023
Announcement of hackathon winners
January-February
26-26
2023
Mentorship program for the winners' teams

Evaluation criteria

Actuality
The solution should meet the current demands of the industries.
Innovativeness
The novelty of the idea, the presence of qualitative advantages.
Commercial potential
The possibility of bringing profit in the future.
Presentation
Designing the work in the presentation and pitching it during the speech.
Implementation possibilities
Having a strong team or a clear plan to implement

Jury

Andrew Wrobel
Founding Partner at Emerging Europe, Leader of the organisation's Tech Emerging Europe Advocates community
Mike Butcher
Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch
Grzegorz Greg Banas
Managing Partner at Game Dev VC Fund and Angel Investor
Denis Gursky
Head of Board and Co-Founder at SocialBoost
Andrii Degeler
Head of Media at TNW
Kostyantyn Kuznyetsov
Sr. Program Development Manager, Media and Communications Expert at UCBI
Artem Starosiek
СЕО and founder at Molfar
Anna Primac
Member of EUvsDisinfo, European External Action Service

Mentors

svitlana slipchenko
Head of the VoxCheck fact-checking project
Oleksandr Oksymets
Data analyst at texty.org.ua
Bohdan Pytaichuk
Chief AI Officer at AI HOUSE
Illya Kabachynskyi
Editor In Chief at AIN.UA
Maria Yatsenko
Senior Product Marketing Manager at Ramp
Natalie Marina
CEO and co-founder at Noty.ai
Hanna Pylieva
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at GroupBy Inc.
Olena Obukhova
Consultant on innovation, business development, big data analysis, startups
Volodymyr Prytula
Tech Lead at JetSoftPro
Adam Zagórecki
Senior Research Fellow at Cranfield University
Viktoriia Zrazhevska
Head of training department at Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security
Ensar Koshi
Coordinator and Logistics at US Embassy Pristina
Maksym Grant
Venture Analyst at Center42 Innovation Agency
Givi Gigitashvili
Research Associate for Eastern Europe and Caucasus at Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab
Roger Graves
CTO at Clearbox Decisions
Alla Rosca
Associate Researcher at Edgewater Research LLC / Foreign Policy Association of Moldova
Ahmad Piraiee
Director of Startup Grind
Daria Trapeznikova
Editor-in-chief at
MediaMaker
Kaarel Jõgi
SOC Analyst / Incident Handler at EU Institution Security Operations Center
Peter Kovacs
Founding Partner at Global Startup Awards, XO.company, IseeQ, xLabs
Olha Khmelenko
Marketing Manager at Bolt
Denys Denk
Chairman of the Board at
Ukrainian Media Future
Viktoriia Merlych
Head of project management department at the Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security
Eric Braun
Consultant at Velocity Innovation, Co-founder of Innovators for Ukraine
Vukašin Petrović
Vice President of DT Institute
Artem Ipatov
CTO at shotam.info
Edith Balazs
Head of editorial team at BrokerChooser
Damian Wielechowski
Senior Communication and Marketing Manager at Speed UP Group VC, Founder of PixiPR
Matthew Kupfer
Senior Reporter at The San Francisco Standard news site
Ellina Shnurko-Tabakova
CEO at Index Systems ltd
Maxim Khorolskyi
OSINT-researcher at Molfar
Oskar Braszczyński
Government & Social Impact Partner at Meta for Central & Eastern Europe

1991 Hackathon: Opening

Join the discussion around global communication challenges with top-notch speakers from Google, Meta, OSCE, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, etc.
20 January, 2023
15.00

Welcome Remarks

20 January, 2023
15.30 — 16.20

Government View

Dealing with disinformation at the state level, cooperation with the commercial and civil sectors, strategies to counter malicious campaigns
Antoni Rytel
Deputy Director
GovTech Polska Programme in the Prime Minister's Office
Mykola Balaban
Deputy Head
Center of Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
Ben Heap
Senior Expert (A5) GBR-LVA CIV
NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Henrik Villadsen
Chairman-in-Office Special Representative (Ambassador) in Ukraine
OSCE
Taras Shevchenko
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Culture and Information of Ukraine
MODERATOR: Myroslava Gongadze
Eastern Europe Chief, VOA
United States Agency for Global Media
20 January, 2023
16.30 — 17.30

Big Tech View

Projects of technology companies to combat disinformation, fake accounts and news, the role of startups and civil society
Marcin Olender
Public Policy and Government Relations Manager for the CEE region
Google
Kateryna Kruk
Regional Public Manager Central and Eastern Europe
Meta
ModeratOR: Denis Gursky
Head of Board
SocialBoost
20 January, 2023
17.40 — 18.30

Civil Society View

Representatives of national and international civil society organizations from Ukraine and Europe discuss how they counter disinformation and coordinate their efforts in fighting fake news and manipulative narratives. What gaps exist in creating more consistent cooperation? How the technology can aid in improving the efficacy of the coordinated actions and overall improve hygiene and security in the information space.

The panel discussion is supported by the European Union.
Peter Pomerantsev
Senior Fellow, Author of “This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality”
Agora Institute Johns Hopkins University and LSE
Liubov Tsybulska
Hybrid warfare, Stratcom Expert, CSC Founder
Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine
Vukasin Petrovic
Vice President
DTInstitute
Tamta Otiashvili
Program Director
NDI Ukraine
Mircea NanCa
Contact Point for UkraineStratcom Division – European External Action Service
EUvsDisinfo
MODERATOR: Kostyantyn Kuznyetsov
Sr. Program Development Manager, Media and Communications Expert
UCBI
20 January, 2023
18.40 — 19.10

Closing Session: Media View

Reporting the Truth in the Digital Age
Speaker: Jamie Fly
President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
20 January, 2023
19.10 — 19.30

Google News Lab Presentation

Speaker: Daniel Rząsa
Google News Lab Lead for CEE

FAQ

What is a hackathon?
A hackathon is an organized event where different specialists form teams and solve a specific task or develop an effective solution in a limited time. Experienced mentors help teams — answer questions and give advice. All teams present their ideas to the jury during pitching. Winners usually receive valuable prizes and various types of support to bring the project to life (from advice and mentoring to financial assistance).
Who can participate?
Journalists, editors, media managers, media entrepreneurs, activists, IT specialists, programmers, and developers are invited to participate in the Hackathon. Both individual participants and ready-made teams can apply.
How to register?
Fill out this form to register. How many people should be on the team?The optimal composition of people in the team is from 2 to 5 people. We also allow individual members to participate.
What to do if there is no team?
Participate independently. If you want to assemble a team, you will have such an opportunity. Register and team up with other participants in chats to create an innovative solution.
Do you need to register with a finished product?
No, you can participate in the idea stage. At the same time, participation in the Hackathon with a finished product is also possible.
Can you work on several works in several categories at once?
Yes, we do not exclude this option. However, objectively estimate your strengths because the Hackathon involves an intensive work format.
What tools will you have to work with?
You will need Zoom and Slack. We will tell you about registration and use in the Participant Guidelines.
Where to read Hackathon rules and guidelines?
After filling out the registration form on the website, each participant receives an email with a link to the Participant's Guideline and Slack. Please check your Spam folder. An active link to the Participant's Guideline will be anchored in messages in the Slack community.
Are participants’ travel and accommodation expenses covered?
All participants shall independently pay all expenses incurred by them in connection with participation in the Hackathon unless otherwise suggested by the Facilitators during the Hackathon.

Participants from Ukraine, who wish to take part offline, ARRANGE THEIR OWN TRANSFER to Warsaw. Hackathon organizers DO NOT PROVIDE documents or permits to leave the country.

Organizers

SocialBoost is the international organization that connects startup community and tech expertise with governments and civil society to solve challenges and create breakthroughs for emerging economies. SocialBoost both builds and trains the community of impact startups and SME’s and develops in-house IT products for good governance and democracy.
1991 Accelerator is one of SocialBoost's flagship projects and the first impact-tech accelerator in Ukraine with the biggest startup pipeline in the market.

With support of

This event has been made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Partners

Information partners

© 2022, 1991 Accelerator
1991 Hackathon: Media is organised by international tech organization SocialBoost and impact tech Accelerator 1991, with the support of international donors, tech corporations, and governments.
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