Brainstorming
Civic brainstorming is a new way of opening the state to the ideas of talented people and inviting them to jointly solve socially significant challenges, improve the living conditions of citizens, or the effectiveness of the public sphere.
The keyword is cooperation. Thanks to it, citizens and the state can build solutions - often using the latest technologies - for other people.
We invite you to read the current civic brainstorming sessions.
Smart Trip - Smart PKP (Polish State Railways)
The first GovTech Polska civil brainstorming “Smart Journey - Smart PKP” took place on August 13 at Google Campus in Warsaw. Dozens of volunteers developed solutions to improve the rail travel process.
The team that came up with the idea of SMS notifications informing the passenger about all logistically useful information, such as:
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travel time
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departure time
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delays
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platform
Advance information about the planned train delay will allow passengers to use time efficiently while on the way to the station or during their stay at the station/platform. Most importantly - the above solutions are already in place!
Water
The water brainstorming session was the first international civic brainstorming session held on September 14-15 in Poland and Nigeria during the 24-hour session as part of the HackYeah hackathon in Nadarzyn near Warsaw. Over 100 people, selected from among the submitted applications, searched for innovative and effective solutions to prevent the crisis of diminishing water resources.
The idea of international civic brainstorming assumes the possibility of drawing on the experiences of not only different people but also other countries. The participants of the storm in Warsaw, thanks to the live broadcast, could watch the work of their colleagues from Nigeria who, under the watchful eye of Polish mentors, were looking for ways to provide Nigerians with access to good-quality water.
On the other hand, citizens in Warsaw took on the following issues: extreme phenomena, such as drought and torrential rains; building awareness of the problem among the society, and water retention in urban and agricultural areas.
At the time when citizens were looking for solutions to the water problem, experts talked about the scale of the problem we are dealing with. The discussion was attended by prof. Tomasz Walczykiewicz, Dr. Małgorzata Bogucka-Szymalska, and Dr. Paweł Przygrodzki.
The participants were visited by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who thanked the winners of the first civic brainstorming devoted to railway innovations and invited them to act as consultants - they will implement the solutions they have developed.
What ideas won?
We awarded prizes in the following categories:
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civic - for the project "Close to Water" - the originators proposed certificates for producers who are the most economical in terms of water used in the production of their products;
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design - for the idea of "Keep water in agriculture", proposing the creation of buffer zones by watercourses to increase the retention rate;
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engineering - for the project "Oaza 2050" - is the idea of an algorithm analyzing satellite photos and on their basis showing areas at risk of water deficit, areas requiring attention, and not endangered.
In addition, the jury distinguished the project of the team from Hungary entitled "Colors of Water" - an idea for an application showing the level of biological and chemical water pollution.
We are planning many more similar events in the future. Click here and we'll let you know about the next Civic Brainstorming meetings.
