UPDATE :

Presentation/Pitch Deck Template Link  https://drive.google.com/file/d/16hIND2It0eTGgNaS9tRFB6tdri4eNkww/view

As cities grow and flourish they face increasingly complex challenges such as water access, waste management, mobility and public safety. Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan with a population of over 15 million, is already facing such challenges on a daily basis.

Urban planners need to have robust preparation schemes and the capability to manage the city effectively. This includes a long term vision and a plan for sustainable mobility, green zones, waste reduction and access to clean water. 

Historically, technology has played a significant role in helping cities resolve such challenges.

KEY CHALLENGES:
1. WATER ACCESS AND QUALITY
Total demand for Karachi is estimated at 1,188m gallons of water a day MGD against which 650MGD is available for supply. The majority of city’s population is facing major challenge of accessing water in their households. The city is also facing poor quality of water supply. Following are the major problem sub-sections within water access and quality area.

• ILLEGAL WATER CONNECTIONS AND THEFT
  The water supply network of Karachi is unique in the sense that unlike other major cities of the country which mostly supply groundwater, the main water source of Karachi is the Keenjhar Lake, which is surface water located more than 100 miles away. The water that reaches Keenjhar Lake from the Indus takes 17 days to Karachi. This long transmission route causes leakages and water thefts. This accounts for the loss of almost 30% of the city’s water supply. This is aggravated by the poor performance of outdated and inefficient pumping stations. Can technology resolve the issue of water theft?
  
  
•  NO METERING OF WATER CONNECTIONS
  There is no metering system to monitor the water supply. There are illegal practices of puncturing water pipelines to siphon off water to sell at inflated rates on the black market. How can technology be used to solve this problem?
• PRESENCE OF HARMFUL SUBSTANCES IN THE WATER SUPPLY
  Karachi’s water supply has presence of arsenic, nitrate-nitrogen, fluoride(F), magnesium, and other harmful substances. How to develop viable systems to purify this water?

2. SMART WASTE AND SEWAGE MANAGEMENT
Karachi is expected to generate 16,000 tons of garbage daily by 2020. The city currently produces over 12,000 tons of garbage. Garbage dumps may pose serious threats if not disposed or recycled properly. Is there a way to automate it using technology?

• POOR MECHANISM OF COLLECTION, TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL OF WASTE
  The city has a poor mechanism for the collection, transportation and disposal of household and industrial waste. Over 13,000 tons of garbage is thrown out daily by the population of which 70% reaches the two landfills; the rest remains strewn around the city in drains and some of it finds its way into the Arabian Sea.
• IMPROPER RECYCLE MECHANISM
  Scientifically designed Garbage Transfer Stations (GTS) help in waste management and recycling. Karachi has temporary collection points and no specified GTS with sorting machines. This is a major impediment for effective recycling of waste.
• BLOCKED AND CLOGGED SEWAGE SYSTEM
  Blocked drainage and Sewage causes flooding which impacts the day to day activities of the city.

3. MOBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION

•  PUBLIC TRANSPORT INADEQUACY
  The shortage of public transport widens the gap between the public demand and the availability of buses on the roads. Most of residents rely on buses as a mode of transport. Karachi has limited number of public transport and a large populace reliant on this mode of transportation. The result is that public buses are over-crowded that makes commutation unsafe and uncomfortable. Can technology help relief the commuters of Karachi?
•  TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND PARKING DIFFICULTIES
  Traffic congestion is one of the most prevalent transport problems in Karachi. Lack of parking spaces compel people to park their vehicles on roads which further blocks roads. Is there a smart solution to this problem?
•  CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN,  CHILDREN, SENIOR CITIZENS AND THE DISABLED
  The absence of proper facilitation for women, children, senior citizens and disabled in public transport vehicles is also a huge problem area.

 4. PUBLIC SAFETY
Public Safety organisations are essential for maintaining civic order. Karachi faces many challenges regarding public safety with very few ambulances per capita, lack of resources and equipment in the fire department, and major security challenges.

•  LACK OF COORDINATION BETWEEN PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANISATIONS
  Fire Brigade, Ambulance Services and Police are not aligned for major calamity or violent/terrorist activity
•  INADEQUATE RESPONSE MECHANISM OF PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES
  The response to emergencies and disasters is always a challenge for the public safety and security organisations/agencies.
•  LACK OF EFFECTIVE SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING SYSTEM
  There is absence of effective monitoring and surveillance equipment, resources and mechanism in the city. This impacts safety and security of the citizens.

What can be done differently through technology to improve this?

 5. CITIZEN SERVICES

Citizen Services play an important role in connecting citizens with governments.

• LACK OF PUBLIC GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL SYSTEM
  Citizens find it difficult to engage with government on their own terms, time, and devices.
  
  
• TRANSPARENCY, GOVERNANCE AND TRUST DEFICIT IN INSTITUTIONS
  There is a serious issue of public distrust in government institutions.
  
  
• INEFFECTIVE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDING
  Governments face shortage of funds due to improper utilization and lack of technological interventions and processes.

How can these issues be resolved using technology?

Calling all stake holders including Citizens, Innovators, Technologists, Designers & Entrepreneurs based in the City of Lights to collaborate and co-create innovative solutions that can make Karachi more liveable, sustainable and competitive. The best solutions will be awarded with prizes worth Rs 300,000.

Around the world, civic hackers are creating solutions that enable city governments to be more open, efficient, and in tune with the needs of citizens. The idea is to arrange a hackathon that will bring together programmers, designers, urban mappers, data analysts, community organizers, and government information to reboot local services by creating open source web, mobile, and SMS applications. 

During the 3-day Civic Hackathon, you will learn open-source hacking for civic improvement, get mentored, receive input from domain experts, and form teams to create useful prototypes that solve civic needs. All you need to do is bring your brain, skills, and enthusiasm!

Be it Karachi or Islamabad, all cities, big or small, face civic issues! Do you want to bring a civic revolution to Pakistan through innovative technology? Do you have ideas about how to fix everyday problems in your city? Do you like working with other like-minded people and Have skills like web or mobile development or design? Utilize your skills to transform your city for the better! 

 HACKATHON SCHEDULE

Individuals and teams may register online at: https://goo.gl/JkpKJy

Registration for this hackathon is open for all until 11:59 PM (PST) Wednesday, 28th November 2018. Due to space constraints, we will have to remove anyone who have not registered latest by 11:59 PM (PST), Wednesday, 28th November 2018.

You can work on any idea that improves the public sector. Some broad categories to consider include Water Access and Quality, Smart Waste and Sewage System, Mobility and Transportation, Public Safety and Citizen Services.

Prize categories for the hackathon include:

• Champion of Civic Tech Hackathon 2018
• Winner in each category (5 prizes)

• Problem-Solution Fit
  Is the problem well-defined? Is the solution a good fit for mitigating or resolving the issue?
• Potential Impact
  How widespread is the community problem that the application intends to solve? Is there any market research on the problem and solution? Can the solution be scaled easily to actual deployment in the real world?
• Novelty & Learning
  What is novel about the solution the team has proposed? Has it been done before? What will we learn from the solution that we didn’t already know before?
• Prototype
  How easy-to-use is the application? How elegant and engaging is the user experience and design? How functional and well-implemented is the prototype demo?
• Sustainability
  How committed is the team to scaling/deploying the application beyond the hackathon? How will the app be adopted by users (govt/citizens/media) & usage sustained over time? Does it have a business model?