TechCamp soon in Sarajevo
In the extension, you can read the announcement TechCamp-which we received from the organizers of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. This two-day, interactive event will be realized with the help of regional non-governmental organization – UG “Why not” (BH), Dokukino (Serbia) and Kosovo 2.0 (Kosovo).
The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, is pleased to announce that TechCamp Sarajevo, two-day, interactive event that brings together leaders from civil society and the field of technology from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, begins on Thursday, 18 October at 9:00 pm in the Youth, Skenderija. TechCamp goal is to provide an opportunity for civil society actors to explore the latest technologies and technological tools that will be used to advance their goals. During the two-day camp, participants will explore and begin to use technology to help their work in the field of transparency, accountability, and civic engagement.
The event will begin with a “speed geeking” (“fast geeky”) session where NGO leaders will see dozens of different technologies that could be useful in the work of their organization (of the basic technologies such as social media, to higher technological tools such as mapping and data management applications). NGO leaders will then have the opportunity to participate in several training sessions to learn more about the individual tools. TechCamp main objective is to promote practical problem-solving using technology.
NGO representatives will share the problems faced by their organizations and the second day of work together with technologists to develop the possible technological solutions. TechCamp Sarajevo is specifically aimed at NGOs from the region that deal with issues of transparency, accountability and citizen engagement.
Besides the fact that it will be a major event TechCamp, NGOs after the camp, and through TechSoup Foundation, will benefit because they will get access to new tools and a new network of regional support community http://communityboostr.org.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States has organized twelve TechCamp’s worldwide events like the roof 2.0 Initiatives for Civil Society Secretary of State Clinton. Detailed information about the project and other TechCamp’s around the world can be found on http://techcampglobal.org/.
TechSoup NGO Foundation supports the project in cooperation with the Office of e-Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States, six regional U.S. embassies and regional NGOs, including “Why Not” (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Dokukino (Serbia) and Kosovo 2.0 (Kosovo)
Some of the topics that will be discussed at the workshop include: tools and resources to engage governments, data mapping, mobilization using on-line resources, and simply blogging website, citizen journalism tools, monitoring government spending, on-line communication for NGOs, monitoring public consumer access to government information, pre-election promises and information, freedom of information, involvement and empowerment of citizens in order to make the information interesting, and online engagement for social problems.