This week will see the official launch of TechMousso* – a gender data challenge in Côte d’Ivoire which we’re proud to be supporting, alongside the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Data2x initiative of the UN Foundation.
As in many countries, there is a lack of reliable, gender-specific data on vital areas such as health, education and economics in Côte d’Ivoire. To tackle this challenge, TechMousso aims to unite civil society activists with policymakers and technologists to identify the key technical and social barriers to obtaining this data, and to devise solutions such as applications, visualisations or algorithms to address these. Multi-disciplinary teams will work together, with the winning team receiving a $10,000 prize.
This week’s official launch follows an initial consultation meeting last month, attended by over 70 technologists, civil society representatives, government officials and business people. Following the consultation, an open call for entries was launched, which saw over 75 teams submit entries across five thematic areas, including women’s economic empowerment, legal rights, health and education. This Thursday in Abidjan, the Minister of Women Promotion, Family and Child Protection, Ms Euphrasie Kouassi Yao, will officially declare the contest open, and shortlisted teams will begin work. Unlike many other challenges, TechMousso will not be a single day or even a week – teams will have until first week of July to refine their solutions, with the final judging and prizegiving taking place in the second week of July. Teams can also expect strong support from challenge partners – the likes of the African Development Bank, the Commission for the Access of Public Data (CAIDP), UNESCO, the Compendium of Female Expertise, Orange, and the National Institute of Statistics will train and mentor the teams during the weeks of competition.
To learn more about the contest, please visit: http://techmousso.ci/ or search #TechMousso on Twitter. We’ll be announcing the winners here too. Good luck to all the entrants!
*”Mousso” means woman in Bambara, a language widely spoken in Côte d’Ivoire and across West Africa.