‘Hackathon’ aimed to develop a new app called ‘Open Budget’ to support Israel

Israeli & Jewish hackers hold simultaneous 24-hour coding session in Tel Aviv & Silicon Valley to allow Israelis to better understand how their money is being spent.

By Yossi Aloni

 

Last Friday, more than 120 hackers, developers and computer programmers from Israel and Jewish communities abroad took part in a hackathon that occurred simultaneously in California’s “Silicon Valley” and in Tel Aviv.

illustrative - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

illustrative – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Many of the Jewish hackers inCalifornia play leading roles in major high-tech companies like Google, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Under the title of “Friday Night Hack,”the event had two tracks, one focusing on Israel and the other on the Jewish communities around the world.

The Israel track aimed to develop a new app called “Open Budget” to promote transparency and accessibility to the budgets of local authorities in Israel in order to allow residents to better understand how their money is being spent.

The purpose of such events is to develop new software, open source interactivity, and to empower and leverage technology for social change. Equally important in this particular hackathon was encouraging the establishment of a global community of Jewish hackers committed to using their talents in service to Israel and the Jewish nation.

 

View original Israel Today publication at: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23993/Default.aspx?hp=readmore