[#b_hack] Baltic Sea Region Hackathon 2023

Join the Baltic Sea Region Hackathon in Lübeck, Germany on 7-9 July 2023 to tackle disinformation with IT solutions and connect with like-minded IT enthusiasts from the entire Baltic Sea Region!

_Lübeck, Germany, 7–9 July 2023

Ready to unleash your inner geek to battle disinformation with IT solutions? How about diving into the world of AI, democracy or the environment and putting the Sustainable Development Goals into perspective? Want to connect with awesome, like-minded young tech enthusiasts from across the Baltic Sea Region, all while enjoying an all-expenses-paid experience? 

Say hello to [#b_hack], the Baltic Sea Region Hackathon 2023! Happening in the charming city of Lübeck, Germany on 7–9 July 2023, this event promises excitement, innovation, and fun!

The hackathon is organised and financed by the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein in conjunction with the CBSS and the Technical University of Applied Sciences (TH Lübeck).

_who can apply?

We’re on the lookout for dynamic individuals aged 18-25 from CBSS Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden) who share a passion for IT, social media, or simply making the Baltic Sea Region an even better place to be.

Got skills in IT, programming, audio-visual tools, or graphic design? Perfect! If you’re not into programming, no worries – we’ve got a journalism/media session just for you!

_topics

Depending on your profile and your preferences, you will work on one of the six hackathon topics, in smaller groups of 3-5 participants. Each group will be supervised by a coordinator from the TH Lübeck. You will have access to datasets from the Baltic Sea countries and other tools provided by the TH Lübeck. The results of each session will be presented on the final day.

Here are the six hackathon sessions you can choose from:

Disinformation #1: Echo chamber detection, bot detection, and flow of (dis)information

  • Required skills: Python.

Echo chambers isolate and amplify similar views in social networks, mak- ing alternative opinions challenging to consider, thus polarising beliefs. You will analyse Twitter to identify echo chambers, comparing usage in Baltic countries and examining potential misuse for disinformation.

Disinformation #2: Deepfakes

  • No programming skills needed. Some audio-video knowledge is required.

To reflect on fake news and their impact on society, you will create a short deepfake video using AI tools: generate a realistic avatar of a known figure, write a political speech with AI, synthesize their voice, and add AI-generated music. Optionally, you will certify it as NFT.

Disinformation #3: Journalistic forms and media disinformation

  • No programming skills needed.

You will explore handling (dis)information creatively and, as embed- ded journalist, cover the [#b_hack] using various journalistic formats including video, text, photo, or audio content. You will present the other participants’ projects – or fake it. Will anyone notice?

Artificial intelligence: AI text detector

  • Required skills: Python.

AI-generated text, such as with ChatGPT, raises concerns about potential negative impacts, like fake news and plagiarism. You will work on revealing patterns distinguishing AI-generated content from human text, and develop a machine-learning classifier to discern between human and non-human generated text.

Democracy: Theory and practice of budget allocation

  • Required skills: general programming.

Fair and democratic budget allocation is often a challenge in the public sector. You will create a democratic budget allocation process and devise a fair allocation method, and optionally, develop a software prototype to demonstrate the method.

Environment: Visualisation of marine and environmental data

  • No programming skills needed.

You will focus on developing a dashboard concept to visualise weather, sea and environmental data for Schleswig-Holstein. The interactive dashboard will combine various data sources, offering a central loca- tion to observe the environmental state of the Baltic Sea.

_travel, accomodation & venue

Just come as you are: all your travels, accommodation and meals will be covered by the event organisers. If your application is successful, we, the [#b_hack] team, will get in touch with you regarding your travel arrangements. You will be staying at the B&B Hotel Lübeck. The hackathon will take place at the premises of the Technische Hochschule Lübeck (TH Lübeck).

_sounds good?
apply now, by 25 May 2023!

Apply now!

Share the registration link: https://forms.office.com/e/qwW85V8uq1

_still need more information?