Yemen Public Financial Management Hackathon 2023
The Yemen Ministry of Finance (MoF) is organizing a hybrid hackathon with technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the event is partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
Following a worldwide trend, the Government of Yemen is endeavoring to use digital technologies to improve the management of its public finances. There is significant potential for greater deployment of technology to enhance the efficiency of public administration and support greater effectiveness of public financial management (PFM). However, the scope for realizing such benefits is limited due to weak or almost absent internet connectivity in certain parts of the country.
In this context, the MoF is calling on local IT talent and innovators with an idea to tackle the challenges in data storage and exchange between it and the spending units.
Yemen Public Financial Management Hackathon
The Yemen Ministry of Finance invites proposals from local innovators, creative thinkers, and geeks to help tackle pressing data exchange challenges in public financial management (PFM).
In 30 exhilarating hours, discover how to brainstorm, collaborate, and pitch solutions like a business. The Yemen PFM Hackathon is an engaging dive into the startup and creative thinking worlds. You will interact with subject matter experts, well-known figures in the tech industry, IMF mentors, and representatives from Yemen's Ministry of Finance over the course of two action-packed days.
The participants will register as a team of three experts reflecting coding skills, mobile technologies, and system security. Proposals submitted by groups will be scrutinized to select the top 10 teams by a panel of experts from Yemen Ministry of Finance, and IMF. The top 10 teams will then be invited to present their proposals virtually on February 27-28, 2023; the panel will then select 5 teams to develop their prototype offline and invite them to Amman to join us for 30 hours of fun and learning, working within teams around their proposals, and fine tuning a working prototype to present it to the judges.
There will be prizes of up to AED 25,000 for the top winning teams.
Requirements
Challenges
Without reliable data collection mechanisms, the Ministry of Finance collects information manually or in excel files (limited to those Spending Units where computers are available) and inputs this data at the centralized location.
The desired outcome from this process is a situation where the Ministry can utilize smartphone and telephone networks to configure an application to collect the required data from the Spending Units without an internet connection and use it as a two-way communication tool.
Key desired features of the mobile-based solution are as follows:
An offline mobile application that should have user-friendly drop-down menus to collect information. The exact data to be captured in the application for the prototype will be provided to the hackathon participants. The mobile application will convert the data into structured, machine-readable text messages.
A mechanism to securely encrypt and share information with a centralized MoF application using a mobile number without an internet connection.
The application will forward the message to a designated mobile number decided by the MoF in advance. No action will be required by the user.
The mobile application should be able to read a specific message from one number delivered by the centralized application. The exact message to be tested during the Hackathon will be provided to the participants.
After reading, the mobile application should update the content in the local mobile database. The mobile application should alert the Spending Unit users.
Prizes
First Place
Second Place
Third Place
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Experts
IMF
Judging Criteria
-
Development/High-level system/Reusability and scalability/Team Capabilities
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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