Taarifa announced as “Grand Prize Winner” of the Sanitation Hackathon

20 Apr

Taarifa was one of over 70 projects to enter the Sanitation HackatHome App Challenge following the Sanitation Hackathon in December 2012. Judges seemed impressed and we were shortlisted among the ten finalists. On April 19th the World Bank announced the three Grand Prize Winners and Taarifa is one of them!

Fayaz and Florian receiving the “Grand Prize Winner” certificate on behalf of Taarifa

The prize was awarded at a “A Matter of Life: Investing in Sanitation – a Conversation with Jan Eliasson, Tony Lake, & Global Decision-Makers” as part of the World Bank spring meetings at their Washington D.C. headquarters. Florian and Fayaz travelled to Washington from London, UK and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to receive the price on behalf of the global Taarifa team. Following the panel discussion with panelists Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary General, United Nations, Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF, Rachel Kyte, Vice President of Sustainable Development, World Bank Group and Jim McHale, Vice President, American Standard, we had the opportunity to showcase our apps to attendees.

Fayaz demonstrating Taarifa

Later we set off to the OpenGov Hub for the ICT4Drinks: Sanitation Hackathon Edition happy hour. The evening kicked off with introductions by  Chris Vein, Chief Innovation Officer at the World Bank and former White House Deputy CTO, Jae So, Manager of the Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, and John Kluge, co-founder of Eirene and Toilet Hackers, followed by a short presentation of our apps by each time and Q&A. Afterwards there was time for casual conversations and engaging discussions with the attendees, many from the D.C. developer scene.

Sanitation Hackathon Grand Prize Winners with Chris Vein and Jae So

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