EpiHacks are typically organized and supported by the Ending Pandemics team, who are working to detect, verify, and report outbreaks faster around the world. If you are interested in organizing your own EpiHack or recommending them to other organizations that might benefit, we would first ask you to consider the following points to ensure an EpiHack is the right kind of event for you:
EpiHack Values & Expectations:
EpiHacks are collaborative, multi-disciplinary events that focused on developing open source tools for local stakeholders. You can read more about these values here.
An EpiHack is not a competition and does not award prizes or money, nor is it an event purely for social or networking purposes. EpiHacks are focused on serving the needs of the host organization(s), typically government health agencies or public health NGOs.
Prospective EpiHack Host Organizations
EpiHack host organizations are typically government agencies, public health NGOs, or universities. In some cases, private sector organizations may also be a good fit to host an EpiHack event. Potential EpiHack hosts should have a deep understanding of the public health challenges to be addressed, good relationships with other key public health and government organizations, and be in good legal standing.
EpiHack hosts will need to:
- identify public health challenges and share a vision of the intended impact;
- contribute time & team effort to organizing the event;
- be capable of planning and executing event activities that includes logistics, finance, and program planning;
- engage key stakeholders to join the event and post-event activities; and
- be open-minded, flexible, and respectful of others.
If your organization is aligned with these values and characteristics, great! You next step will be to consider what public health challenges an EpiHack could help you to solve. Once you can articulate these challenges, we would be happy to speak with you. Please review the step-by-step guidelines in To Organize Your Own EpiHack Event to ensure you’ve considered each item.
How EpiHack Benefits You
