Code for the Kingdom

At the core of the human trafficking issue is supply and demand. Where there is demand, there is an industry working to create the supply. It is also a reality that the quicker and easier it is purchase something, the more likely a buyer will risk an impulse purchase. This is true in selling sex online. The growth of the online and mobile marketplace for sex fuels the supply of trafficked girls.

Technology has become the predominant tool of sex traffickers. The ease by which they can acquire mobile phones and new numbers, allows the traffickers to coordinate meeting points, terms of the transaction, and to maintain communication with the victims and the “johns”. Escort websites and online classified ad sites provide the traffickers with countless opportunities to conduct their businesses and publish those mobile numbers.

But what if you were to create technology that would take the very same information traffickers advertise, and use it to disrupt their business?

In Dallas this year, a team of developers decided to disrupt those recruiting girls to be trafficked, but overwhelming their hashtags with posts. The solutions was called #Ihaveaname

What can be done for other platforms? What else can we do to frustrate this dark industry?

Champions

How can we ensure everyone on earth can safely access the Bible in their own language, even in the most remote and hostile corners of the world?

DESCRIPTION: How can we ensure everyone on earth can safely access the Bible in their own language, even in the most remote and hostile corners of the world? As Christians we are called to bring the hope of the Gospel to every person on the planet and as Paul demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, we ought to present the Gospel to people in light of their technological needs and preferences.

How can we meet them where they are at with the technologies, media, and format that are relevant to them? How do we serve people in lower-technology settings, using different social platforms, dwelling in different cultures, and living in hostile situations?

How can we ensure the Scriptures are available in every medium from mobile & web apps, to social media and messaging platforms, to basic SMS, etc.? What new technology can you invent to make Scripture Engagement go viral?

How can we help people groups across the countries find the Bible in their heart language, the language their mothers spoke to them in, the language they pray in, across different platforms? Could you a create social awareness campaign for the Bible (leveraging the Digital Bible Platform API) to share the Good News in your country on the relevant social media platforms?

How can technology help ethnic minority Christians living in hostile environments reach their non-Christian neighbors? How can it empower & encourage them to make disciples? How can it help protect minorities from persecution while creating safe places for Muslims to engage with the Gospel?

How can technology help missional communities share the best resources that help them share Jesus with others in their community? Could you create a slack integration that enables people to share and review resources?

Champions

Problem #1: Online evangelism and outreach is no longer new. Whereas, it has great potential and statistically shows the world is full of people spiritual seekers online, it is facing the next great stage in growth: making offline disciples. All online outreach efforts, many of whom are very sophisticated, are facing the same problem with creating genuine, lasting offline disciples.

What if the problem with current online outreach is that we are thinking too global?

Currently, most major online outreach efforts lack a nearby faith community behind them. The resources are great, the ministries driving them are great, but they are often hosted great distances away and staffed by people available to meet in person.

What if we the new phase of global online outreach is local? Small groups, churches, or even groups of friends using online to connect with the place they live, connecting with seekers, and having the ready opportunity for offline connection?

What if we built an online outreach for the front range of Colorado specifically? Some topics are common to everyone seeking, but what questions or thoughts are specifically front range?

Using the Codex online e-coaching platform, we want to launch at the hackthon a beta platform for these spiritual conversations? One we plan to deploy in the next few months.

The Codex platform has years of success in Europe with the Jesus.net movement. The platform is developed with engagement and e-coaching at the heart, allowing deeper, personal conversations than are often possible in other social forums. How do we introduce Colorado people to Jesus in ways that make sense to them?

What groups are in Colorado that would be the right kind of places to offer spiritual seekers an offline experience? Meetup.com or Alpha Course style? Places ready to have conversations with people honestly “unconvinced” and even “religion-phobic”, but who at the same time can’t let the conversation go, and want to understand something more?

This challenge is for online marketers, communicators, writers, designers, and anyone with an understanding for bringing the gospel into this unique location.

Champions

This app project is intended to become a tool to the small groups, church leaders, and groups of friends and family to organize prayer walking in their neighborhoods.

The simple outreach lifestyle movement, “Prayer, Care, Share”, encourages a lifestyle for all believers that has three simple elements: Active PRAYER for the people around you, looking for tangible ways to show CARE for the people around you, and being ready to SHARE with the people around you.

Faith communities commit to prayer for their neighborhood, both from their homes and churches, but also by walking in those neighborhoods and praying. This simple idea of prayer walking is something that happens globally.

What if there was an app that you could track your prayer walking route like jogging and hiking routes do?

What if your prayer walking routes could be shared to your faith community where others are sharing their prayer walking routes? What if the church leadership used this to cover every street in their community with prayer? What would happen in their communities for Christ?

How could you create a social components to the experience of prayer walking?

A few key feature of the app would need to be: The ability to track your walking path The ability to save that walk The ability to share that walk and add it to a shared community page. The ability to challenge friends to join you Offer challenges to your friends to cover sections of the city Offer a way for people to share a thought with the Geo location

Champions

Using a portable, lightweight server and wifi point, Library Box, we can now deliver content in offline environments and serve audio bible content, videos, or educational material to available mobile devices and tablets.

The LibraryBox project has a lot going on, but it also needs a lot to really provide for the needs of people in rural, poor, or otherwise offline environments throughout Africa, Asia, and South America.

The LibraryBox can offer content for download, but it has no ability to upload content through the web interface. Adding this feature to the box will release it to be an influenciql

We’re looking for people with skills in design, UX/UI, Development, Programming, Mobile, Web Design, Linux System is based on OpenWrt, Linux Kernal 3.3, ash, Lighthttpd, python, Php, sqlite3, minidlna and h5ai customizations. Imagine being part of bridging the gap between the vast, free digital work and those who have the least access to those resources.

Below is an overview of the project:
Type: Programming + Hardware
Outcome: Captive Web based media server hosted on battery operated pocket sized WiFi access point
Description: This challenge is to extend an existing design of a multi-lingual UI to create an administrative password protected upload/management interface for managing media, reading/clearing file upload statistics, and configuring device specific parameters.
Target Audience: People looking for media content off the grid or those who can’t afford internet access. People looking for free WiFi
End Users: Churches, Pastors, Missionaries, Educators, Organizations, People
Skills Required: Design, UX/UI, Development, Programming, Mobile, Web Design, Linux System is based on OpenWrt, Linux Kernal 3.3, ash, Lighthttpd, python, Php, sqlite3, minidlna and h5ai customizations. Linux subcoding.
Organization: Operation Mobilization, Open Source Community
Partners: Based on Open Source work from PirateBox, LibraryBox, h5ai, OpenWrt
Overall push content to the device.

Champions

Lumi provides Rent-to-Own (RTO) solar power systems (also known as Pay-As-You-Go Solar) to low-income families living without electricity in Africa. By changing the business model to small payments over time with a rent-to-own system, Lumi turns an expensive, often cost-prohibitive asset purchase into affordable electricity access. Shifting away from kerosene and other fossil fuels to RTO solar for energy saves money, reduces health and safety hazards, and improves education and quality of life for Lumi’s customers. Lumi's sales process and ongoing customer relationship also provide a ready-made platform for ministry.

Challenge Overview:

In order to reach more and more people and do so effectively, Lumi needs to design hardware devices and supporting software better suited for the people who use them: the rural African villager who has never used a computer, may have only completed a 3rd grade education and yet has a mobile phone.
How can Lumi's devices be improved to be more attractive to customers by providing more value and better features? How can Lumi add functionality to its software to communicate more effectively with customers and virally expand it's reach to more customers?

Challenge Details:

Hardware

•      Lumi's flagship product is a small device provides light, USB charging (phones or anything running off 5V) and a radio.
•      What functionality or features could Lumi add that use the existing components? Example: play mp3 files from a USB drive, deliver media via the transfer process.
•      How could Lumi change the "hockey puck" design to something more appealing and/or functional? Example: more functional shape, more exciting colors, customization (i.e local 3D printer).
•      Could the device provide more feedback to the customers via the existing LED indicators and/or a small LCD?
  
  

  Hardware / Software Intersection: the Rent-to-Own system

•      Lumi's current system activates the device (or adds "credit") via bluetooth using a smartphone app operated by Lumi "Agents" who have storefronts, kiosks, etc. in markets near where customers work and live. The credit is solely based on time and when the time expires the device deactivates until the customer buys more credit.
•      In the past Lumi has used a scratch card and sms system which proved too costly and cumbersome for both customers and Lumi. Lumi opted to migrate to the bluetooth system but still challenges remain - it's more centralized, dependent upon network connectivity, still no telemetry, etc.
•      What other activation methods could be used? Or how could the bluetooth system be improved to be more efficient, effective, etc.? Example: add a wifi chip, offline functionality for the bluetooth app, etc.
  
  

  Software

•      Lumi's Agent mobile app has enormous potential and currently functions for the rent-to-own system but is not effective for collection information from customers, communicating with Lumi or disseminating information to customers.
•      Nearly all of Lumi's customers have a phone, but not a smartphone, and so are limited to voice and sms.
•      Lumi is implementing CRM and Call Center software to better serve our customers (hopefully to be at least functional by the hackathon).
•      How can Lumi use sms to more efficiently and effectively communicate with customers? Example: build or implement an app that receives customer sms for support, feedback, etc. and integrates with CRM and Call Center software.
•      Lumi customers are our best advocates and salespeople. How can Lumi incentivize and systematically track customer referrals? Example: sms-based system for tracking referrals and rewards, agent app feature for monitoring customer referrals

Champions

Prepaid mobile plans are the predominant mobile services in developing countries. India alone has over 800 million prepaid mobile customers. A very large number of these mobile users run of of minutes before their plans renew, causing them to have to add minutes to their plans in an as need basis.

Sponsored calls provide users with free minutes of mobile calls in exchange for listening to, or viewing, a short advertisement. Sponsored Call services have not been truly successful in the marketplace as they have not proven to convert users from listener to consumer. But we know that God’s Word has a different impact in people’s lives. Any presentation of the Gospel is a good thing. We are called to share God’s Word with all. So what is instead of an advertisement, a Sponsored Call played a verse of the Bible? What if Christian non-profits could leverage sponsored calls to further their mission?

Champions

At Church Community Builder, we’ve always designed our Church Management Software with church leaders in mind. Our goal is to equip church leaders and volunteers with the tools they need to do ministry, and that seeps into every corner of the software. Your church is full of dedicated leaders and volunteers who fill vital roles that keep your ministry thriving. We’re here to support them.

The Church Community Builder software is actively being used by approximately 4,000 churches in the United States. So many of the individuals who attend our churches have strengths and skill sets to offer to the community, but don't have a way of understanding the needs of their community.

This app, or mobile responsive site, is intended to solve this problem. Your challenge is to form a team and build an app that can aggregate needed services (mechanic, plummer, accountant) of those in need (single parents, low-income families, etc.) in every community our software exists and match those needs to those in the community willing to fill them.

Refer to the API section of the website for access to the sandbox.

Champions