Tomorrow, we will host another hackathon organized by the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic (MIRRI). On June 23 and 24, individual teams will compete for a reward of 6,000 euros, but also for who will bring the best idea for the extension of the upcoming application Personal Data Management (MOÚ). Thanks to the involvement of the public, Slovakia can thus become an important leader in the field of data solutions and a model for other countries of the European Union.
MIRRI expects that IT experts at the Hackathon will propose, for example, services that would facilitate the creation of a bank account by sharing public administration data via state APIs, offer discounts for specific groups of residents (students or pensioners when traveling), or facilitate the creation of limited liability companies.
How did the idea to create the MOÚ application and My Data Hackathon come about?
As part of the Data Program, MIRRI implements the MOU project, i.e. a mobile application for citizens and entrepreneurs, which will allow them to share the data that the public administration records about them. At the same time, the MOU represents a platform for innovative companies to access data based on consent through open APIs. The possibilities of using My data are open and the potential for innovation is not limited.
“At the time of its inception, it was the only project that, at the end of the day, provided real value for a citizen or entrepreneur, a public administration information technology that can make life easier for him by making it more efficient to solve various life situations in a user-friendly way from the comfort of his home in a state-secured environment way through an easily accessible, but trustworthy and secure mobile application,” explained Michaela Galia Pallayová, head of the data office department at MIRRI.
In addition to finding ideas for the extension of the MOU system and popularizing the upcoming application, the goal of the hackathon is also to discover and explore new opportunities and use cases and bring new and unconventional views and perspective.
“We don’t want hackers at the hackathon to replace state IT. Ideally, we want them to come with prototypes, or extensions of the Moje data information system, thanks to which it will be possible to use selected data to create new and useful digital solutions for citizens or entrepreneurs. Calmly even on a commercial basis,” explains Juraj Bárdy, an expert on digital innovations in public administration.
What are the expected outputs of the hackathon?
MIRRI expects the hackathon to help raise awareness of the open API for My Data and the digital wallet among the startup and tech community. Feedback from participants on the proposed API and data will be key in the final phase of building the MOU system. As Michaela G. Pallayová added, “the goal of the hackathon is to bring visions for the further development of IS MOU together with its mobile application, which may represent new functionalities of the system, but especially new use cases, use cases, possibilities of using data obtained from the environment of public administration by citizens or and entrepreneurs.”
“The result should be an application for smartphones as well as a web interface for PCs and laptops. I believe that after the launch, Slovakia will once again rank among the leaders in data solutions and se an example for other countries of the European Union,” added Juraj Bárdy.
The hackathon will culminate this weekend
After successfully managing the kick-off event, where participating mentors and experts from the MOU team presented the upcoming system in more detail, the My Data Hackathon: Creation of revolutionary digital solutions using personal data from public administration will be held from tomorrow, June 23-24, in our premises at Staromestská 3 in Bratislava.
“In the hackathon, we see the potential to help both parties not only in networking, but also in gaining valuable experience,” concluded Juraj Bárdy. “Working on state projects can be very frustrating, we have already mentioned that many things go much slower than we would like. But it is also a challenge. And when it succeeds, we will move the state in which we live together forward at least a little bit. And even if it is a small change, it affects a large number of people,” added Vojtech Bálint, architect of the MOU solution.
