The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa conducted its latest hackathon on the topic – “A digital solution for efficient vote counting and the announcement of election results.” This was the eighth hackathon conducted by the U.S. Embassy in a series of twelve under its Ethiopia Hacks! Program.

Ethiopia Hacks! is conducted in partnership with the Google Developers Group (GDG- Addis) and the Centre for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE).  Each hackathon challenges aspiring young tech developers to identify prototype solutions to community challenges in Ethiopia. 

Election subject matter and technology experts described post-election challenges in counting votes efficiently and announcing election results in both urban and rural settings in Ethiopia. February 28 through March 1, 2020 students worked in a group to brainstorm and generate open-source, free, and easy-to-learn technology solutions to support the election process.

This hackathon workshop is the last part in a series of election hackathons conducted from November 2019 to March 2020. The three hackathons focused on: 1) voter registration and identification; 2) helping voters who lose their registration card to verify their identity and to vote; and 3) providing solutions for efficiently counting votes and announcing results in a timely manner.

By supporting and developing an eco-system that promotes innovation and technology, the U.S. Embassy is investing the capacity of Ethiopians to shape their future. In total, the Ethiopia Hacks! Program will invest in the capacity of 600 tech-savvy youth who will have the opportunity to participate and generate solutions for their communities. Funding is provided jointly by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).