Open Ideas

1. Commitment

We work with public institutions to find, map, and explain the problems we wish to solve. With institutional ownership and commitment to problem-solving, everything starts with selecting challenges to be submitted to the social innovation competition on a local level, throughout the region. Each country has its own set of issues and challenges. Knowledge of what needs to be changed motivates us to inspire you to participate in solving burning issues that concern us all.

2. Passion

After establishing which social problems need everyone’s immediate attention, the rest is up to you, your vision and ideas. Everyone is invited to propose their own creative software solutions to local problems. Inform yourself about the issue and start developing an inventive application to solve it in the long run. Be it a website, an app, or a mobile device solution, send in your work and show us how you can contribute to communal betterment and problem solving.

3. Voting

Once your proposals are submitted, all solutions will be presented to the online community and/or a panel of experts. The community plays a major role in the process – it is the people online who decide on solutions that will proceed into the second round, as well as winners, through the official website and social networks. The panel of experts that decides on the finalists (in Kosovo the panel decides on the shortlist and winners, too), will consist of representatives from public institutions, the IT & business sector.

4. Develop

The most successful proposals will be returned to their creators for further development into full creative solutions, which will then be submitted for one final voting round. Each developer will have access to necessary information, mentorship and know-how with regard to making the most comprehensive and useful solution possible.

5. Victory lap

At the very end of our road, the most successful final solutions will be chosen. Closing events will be organized with the purpose of presenting and launching the winning projects. The winners will receive funds and other resources necessary to maintain and advance their projects until the end of the year.

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What’s in it for you?

By participating in the Open Ideas initiative in your country, you will get the opportunity to develop a creative web or mobile app that will contribute to solving a burning social issue. You will be free to develop your project whichever way you think is best – it will bear your signature and vision – and if you make it to the finals, you will receive funding and all other support to make a fully sustainable solution from which an entire nation can benefit significantly. In other words: you get a real chance to make a big change for the better and develop your own portfolio and career.

Who can participate?

The Open Ideas initiative has set up competitions regarding social issue solving across Western Balkans – in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. All citizens of the aforementioned nations not directly related to the organizers of local challenges are eligible to participate on local level. People can participate as individuals, in groups, or as organizations not related to the government sector. Each person, team or organization, can submit only one web or mobile app solution per challenge set up in their own country, following the country-specific deadlines and rules. Each nation will have its own website with detailed descriptions of local challenges and rules pertaining to that nation only. Make sure you read all the instructions and follow the deadlines carefully. Do not hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

How to participate?

The process is simple. Inform yourself on what the social issue that needs solving in your country is, then follow the deadlines for submissions. You don’t need to have prior knowledge of programming, nevertheless, a fully usable app idea is expected of you. After you develop the app, we encourage you to set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account for your social good project, gathering your own community around the social good idea. In Kosovo, the most successful projects will be chosen by a panel of experts, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, the voting process will consist of three rounds, two of which are community vote. You are expected to develop your project as much as possible prior to first voting round. Should your solution be chosen for the final round, you will receive the necessary mentorship and know-how to develop your project into launch-ready app. The winners will also receive prize money.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Open Ideas challenge in Bosnia and Herzegovina focuses on engaging citizens to participate in the monitoring of the health care system. The apps designed should focus on helping people discuss and report issues such as corruption, hospital care, availability of necessary medicines, health care facility equipment, etc.

Prishtina

In Prishtina, two separate and unrelated assignments were defined. The first is concerned with municipal spending – how can we make the spending process and numbers simple to grasp for every citizen? The other is aimed at improving the recruitment and selection procedures at the capital – how can we make sure there is a fair selection process for work positions in Prishtina? Participants are welcome to submit two solutions, one for each task, should they wish to do so.

Montenegro

The purpose of competition in Montenegro is improving communication between local communities and their government. To that end, two separate tasks have been set up. “How can we increase youth participation in public decision-making processes?” and “How to use the power of new technologies to increase citizen participation on the road to European integrations?” are the issues that need immediate attention. Participants are welcome to submit a solution for each task.

Serbia

The task set up in Serbia is concerned with inspection monitoring. Citizens are encouraged to act as inspectors and increase accountability and transparency of Market Inspection, Labor Inspection, Financial Inspection, and Building Inspection, by commenting on the institutions’ work and reporting potential irregularities.

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Open Ideas for the Balkans

Winners of Open Ideas for Bosnia and Herzegovina Receive Awards!

Open Ideas for Bosnia and Herzegovina competition started in September this year. Twenty eight ideas were submitted for the development of mobile applications with the aim of improving the healthcare system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the first round of online voting, expert jury evaluation, hackathon and the final round of voting, on Monday, November… Read more »

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* This designation is without prejudice in positions on status and is in line with UNSC 1244 and ICJ opinion on the Kosovo* declaration on independence.

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