October 27th and 28th marked the days of democracy and technological innovation in Chisinau. The Democracy Tech Hackathon, an event promoting the values of democracy and freedom, took place at Artcor, organized by Yep!Moldova in partnership with the Alliance of Democracies Foundation and with financial support from USAID Moldova. The event brought together over 40 IT participants, designers, entrepreneurs, and democracy promoters who developed solutions for the challenges of modern democracy.
10 teams participated in the event, with eight finalists having the opportunity to present their innovations during the pitch session. The event attracted a diverse group of participants between the ages of 15 and 47, including students from "Spiru Haret" Theoretical High School and "Aristotle" Republican Theoretical High School, who stood out with their innovative ideas for the development of democracy.
The ideas presented were diverse and innovative. Among the noteworthy projects is a “hybrid voting system with authentication” presented by the "Marmoris" team from "Aristotle" Republican Theoretical High School, which even included the construction of a robot to validate the ballots. The team won the grand prize of $1000 and the opportunity to present their solution in Denmark in May 2024, participating in the Copenhagen Democracy Summit (CDS).
Other innovative projects included an online game simulating parliamentary debates, presented by the "Justice League" team from “Spiru Haret” High School, a chatbot for demystifying artificial intelligence and consumer protection, presented by the “Wise Agile” team, and an app for prescription management and personal health, presented by the “Propharma” team.
This year's winning team, “Marmoris” from “Aristotle” High School, will be mentored by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation and will represent the Republic of Moldova at the Democracy Summit in Copenhagen in 2024.
This event is implemented by Yep!Moldova and the Alliance of Democracy, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the My Community Program, implemented by IREX.
About Yep!Moldova: Yep! Moldova is an organization that supports the development of early-stage startups and promotes entrepreneurial thinking. Since 2018, Yep!Moldova has organized over 100 local, regional, and international events, with the participation of over 10,000 people – startup founders, entrepreneurship experts, students, pupils, teachers. Yep!Moldova's vision is to develop a generation of people who think entrepreneurially.
About the Alliance of Democracies Foundation: The Alliance of Democracies Foundation, founded in 2017, aims to become the main “megaphone” for the cause of democracy worldwide. This non-profit organization is dedicated to promoting democracy and free markets around the world through initiatives such as the Copenhagen Democracy Summit and Business and Technology Development for Freedom and Democracy.
About My Community Program: “Comunitatea mea” is an eight-year program (2018-2026), funded by USAID and implemented by IREX, which strengthens local administration in Moldova to become more efficient, transparent, and accountable to citizens. The program enhances the capacity of local government in Moldova to provide quality municipal services, increase locally held revenues, and meaningfully engage citizens, while collaborating with national authorities to advance decentralization reforms. At the moment, the program collaborates with 123 town halls from the Republic of Moldova. Since 2018, the program has provided support to more than 90 communities and 1.47 million citizens. The total amount of USAID investments in the My Community program during the 8 years of implementation will be 35.5 million US dollars.
