Designing Culture-Sensitive Hackathons for Empowering African Youth with Ethereum - Abena Asante

thanks for having me again it's the second time I have the honor to be here on the stage and this time I would like to talk about how to design hackaton in order that it's effective in and the purpose is to empower African youth is that okay what do you see here on the image we see people hacking together on the top left East Global London the right side is global um heon in Mumbai Lisbon and in Bogota the commonalities are people coming together working over a project having fun exchanging creating um good memories different cities on the left side London on the top right Zurich and bottom it's Aban the cities look very different all share the same look um commonalities at their cities at the river but besid is the architecture the founder Etc it looks completely different another image on the top left people working together the hackaton in arra on the right side standing in front one of the sponsors bottom left City in arra and right City in Lagos this brings you the question should all hackaton be the same the work question that came across is like is that one size fits all we all agree that hackaton are great way for youth for anyone who wants to enter eum ecosystem because it provides a safe space to play around with technology Etc but if the heck are not designed well I think we're missing out the point effectiveness and the question that came across of the research is I don't think so that the heck do one size fits all and basely mainly based on four observ um four observation that I have come across time perceptions people perceive time in a different way I mean some cultures time is more like people are more on time than others it's not that because people are lazy it's just like they just have a different approach to timing Communication channel for example um differs course cultures on the image left side you see a billboard if we um we advertise the hackerone on a billboard at a huge intersection once we have uh set up the billboard that's when the registration number exploded because people perceive billboard as a legitimate Communication channel whereas there any advertisement maybe on X or other platform is not perceived as trustworthy so the communication channel that you use um is very very detrimental important radio for example it's huge radio and billboard are the two main Communication channel in Western Africa people rely on versus I'm basically main mainly based in Zurich but I've never paid attention to any billboard advertisement of a heon in Zurich collaboration style for example is very different we came across that an observation that collaboration they would like in certain cultures people prefer to have um appointed leader which should remain the same and people also come in groups for them it's very important that they have formed their groups before the enter the hackaton venue versus when in Western cultures are here in London Lisbon Belgrade Etc I mean I personally have I've attended many hackaton myself I attend I go alone I find people on the spot sometimes I two um team of three sometimes team of five but for me it's just like a very natural way in in attending a hackaton but other cultures it's very very important that the people feel that the collaboration style is is important and you need to adher to the to the different um needs of um each City competition is also perceived um very differently people are willing to win but for them it's very important that they win as a group H you know order than winning solo so these are the main four observations that we came across that we think that there's no one size fits all the next question that came across of the research is why Africa I mean the demogra the demographics speaks volume as of now 1.4 billion of the world population is based in Africa and 75% is below 35 years so they have a huge youth population it's also one of the fastest growing um cities in in the world 17 out of the 20 are based in Africa and their current median age is 19 years and the expected population by 2050 is going to be 2.6 billion so if you have these demographics in mind then you then I think it comes very natural that hey technology and the youth we know that you've contributed a huge part of the economic growth so in order I think it's not winner take one it's a Winner Takes it all it's more the question that comes across this how you can tap into the huge demographic um potential that is there and combined with the technology because we all know from studies that youth are like the African youth are more tax heavy mobile money transaction Etc it's very they're growing up in a digital native Native environment so it's not like in in Western World for example Switzerland where 25% of the population is 65 years so it's a complete different um um demographic so hecaton combined with the E theum hecaton and the youth I think this combination if this is designed well attained well it's a huge potential that should be um looked into it I leave background information why I decided to do this research it started when I first organized the hackaton last year e arra um that's when I came across several observations challenges that um I had more than Western perspective because I mean I grew up here in Switzerland mainly I've attended many heckadon in in Latin America in in in Europe so have been used to the nature and D struction the design of the heon there and I want to apply this but then I realized that home I think there are vastly differences that I need to pay attention in order to have the haon successful and I'm a highly curious person and um I've done several research before this which is why I decided with my supervisor that hey let's do a ha research on how to design well because the outcome which I will talk about later on it's not only useful for the hackaton that I'm doing but I think it should be a Playbook that other companies who want to tap into the market know where where the pain points and the needs where they need to look into it in order to be successful again the re the top reason why it's important is like large contribution of Youth with African's economy and I think as we all know the numbers as um the government itself is not able to provide um to the surplus of of labor force that is coming up in the next couple of years so if if other organ other ecosystem are able to cater to their needs I think it's a win-win for um for the whole society the objectives that we want to answer is like to demonstrate how onside the the focus hackaton can be designed in Ghana and Nigeria to purpose for the Youth Empowerment and to explain how hackaton components from hackam manual resource event kickoff structure Etc differs across cultures the reason why we focus on these two Market is because um I mean there's no one there's no one size F all for Africa so western Africa Eastern Africa and southern Africa they cultural very um diverse and the findings are not really relatable that you can transfer to them the second uh point that we focus on the western Africa is because the Ghana Nigerian um developed ecosystem is very big and um and already matured Ghana Nigeria share similarities in terms of both our English speaking countries so it's easier to design um they have similar cultural approach and the reason why we do not include French speaking countes because the the language itself creates complete different environment it's difficult to from a S academic perspective to transfer um to compare um Frank um French speaking countes versus English speaking countries so this is something that we need to bear in mind and Eastern Africa it's also a different Regional Hub but as the study goes on once we have more findings and data then maybe have more insights and we can start going to the Eastern Africa collect datas there and then yes so um and so on how we want to do the research we have mainly three approach the first one we will create um online survey with the purpose of gathering information like why does a person want to attend the hackaton is it intrinsic motivated out of curiosity for example I'm very intrinsic motivated is it external extrinsic sponsor money that you are um maybe when future employment opportunity Etc the second section combines during the heckadon the overall experience how did the collaboration change during the nature of the hackaton um as the hackaton was Pro um going pro um um processing of the hackerone the second the third section includes everything that um outcome how was it impactful compared to the beginning when they said that they want to come because they want to learn something have they fulfilled their learning desire or have they been able to Lear the job or Etc that's what we want to know and also what kind of impact did the hackaton have the questions that we ask we will ask open questions closed questions also liquor Scala questions where people can decide it agrees or it does not agree at all the second approach that we will apply is we will do interviews on-site interviews because we are we are we are aware that online re like survey doesn't really capture everything sometimes people maybe do not understand the questions correctly or they feel like the questions they can what they feel is cannot be grasp into the the the questions that we have we have stated which is why we want to give the opportunity to express them in in during an interview um at the hackerone onsite where we'll ask different participant keyh holders um key stakeholders of um how they perceive the whole event and the third the third approach is observation the reason why we're doing this because it's important to have a 360 um holistic approach approach of gathering data at a different time and also different um um Communication channel and observation is mainly that a person or two or three research assistant will sit there they will take fi notes just observe from an objective Point how the whole atmosphere energy was and how how did they perceive just From onlooker perspective without interfering the participant in um during um before during or after that he what do we want to a um the expected outcome as I mentioned beginning is the ongoing research the expected outcome is definitely we want to increase um we want to create a Playbook that can be used for different protocols universities um um government anyone who is interested to um to to organize um a hackaton in in the West African context that is um in the best effective way so it's will come a Playbook with recommendation dos and don'ts and we are sure that when the heon is designed well this will also Drive Innovation because if you do not pay attention for example time wise usually the hecon in Europe start on Friday evening and they end on S Sunday we have we have experienced that for example in Ghana Sunday is reserved for family and Community engagement so if you if you do a heon that ends on a Sunday people will not attend or they will they will not finish the the event and they yeah because I think it's important you not question whether it makes sense to to have family gatherings on Sunday it's more being culturally aware respecting their different requirements and needs and tailor it to the needs so it's also inclusive been accessible to the each respective city um when the haon are designed well that will also increase that people are more inclined in attending and people are attending more they will they will get more exposed to the ethum um Eco system and that will also drive people will um use it more and um have a it will increase adoption of um eume in the West African region that in turn if people use it more will also bring a diverse solution to the challenges that ethum currently has because I mean as the slogan goes that there's in infinite Garden the garden eum garden in Western Europe is different from the in in Western Ghana but if you always have hackaton in the same region I think then we also have the same type of mentality and people who are attending and then I think we missing out the picture of different region of different needs and this might also have a positive impact on the challenges that we are currently facing in the eum ecosystem yes and also our one expected outcome is definitely address in Regional um I mean maybe we come out that University of Ghana might be interested to maybe have change their curriculum in order to um prepare the youth more for um like ethereum and the heon ETC the findings will also cater to the to the um addresses Regional Tech ecosystem needs from a scientific perspective what we our research will definitely contribute um to The Innovation Theory We Will We Will question the status quo of what drives Innovation how do certain um learning settings need to be designed in order to boost the Innovation it also question the temporality theory and overall we will um answer questions how um in terms of accessibility coordination and timing differs from um various um Regional um differs across cultures question since it's an ongoing study my goal here is to introduce what we have thought um about how we want to do do the study but I'm also Keen to hear what do you want to know that I have not um covered yet is there any burning point that um that you're interested to know um that maybe I will put it into the the the research design um yeah open to questions amazing session first of all yeah I just wanted to jump in because I'm working currently working with a very good friend of mine based in in Lagos in Nigeria and he's told me about the adoption almost overnight into crypto you know especially with sort of the fall of the naira and and issues obviously with the Federal Reserve my question is though because he still thinks that there's some problems or shall we call them obstacles on the window and obviously institutions and organizations like yours that are driving these hackathons into sort of localized communities and and bringing it to the Forefront are key into this growth but what other obstacles do you think are there you know could be on the kind of infrastructure connectivity um opportunities for the Youth uh and also funding but what kind of things do you think we need to put in place to allow Nigeria to become and and of course Ghana to become the kind of next sort of um you know uh I would say next Evolution on the chain of blockchain within Africa interesting question so if I understand you correctly you want to know what kind of challenges do Ghana or Nigeria currently have that hinders people in coming to the space from a um from a inducer perspective or from a developer perspective well for both really because obviously it's not just developers we need it's it's a it's because the thing is the developers are there they're coming but then we also need marketers we need product developers we you know we need it's a whole you know it's a whole mixture of different Talent that's needed to really scale um the scene within you know down in Nigeria so I'm curious if you know or if you're aware of how we can kind of facilitate that migration um into a wider adoption within within Africa um I think wider adoption would definitely be for example from my end user point is when I apps or adaps should be mobile friendly this something I have come across it's like here maybe I'm more like inclined to be the desktop person but in in other region it just mobile is King mobile first so if we able to design products that fit into a mobile like mobile first I think that's when people will will will um adopt earlier because you cannot force people to to buy a desktop or laptop in order to use it I think this is one one of the observations that um that I have realized and the second thing is I think it boils on to education it's like it's not it's not like it needs to be consistent it needs to be like on a on a on a yeah on a consistent level and this is something that I do not really see and I think we should also get away from all always online education it's about in person it's about being there various different protocol wherever they are incorporate base but you need to have like representative local representative who are able to do a campus tour for example this is what we have done last year going to different universities talk about it do introduction because for the vast of the PE majority things are still very unknown and yeah if I want to summarize I would say mobile first from end user point but and also education wise and starting at the University I think this is the Holy Grail I couldn't agree more and do you think also maybe on top of Education maybe incentivization because people need to see that the um shall we say the municipality the government is also pushing people into those Industries which is something globally we need but I'm just curious as to whether education is the first part and we actually need to follow it up with more actions so opportunities in the space incentivizing maybe the youth to come into these you know to Dows or to to to other organizations that are are setting up these daps and I'm just curious as do you think that there's a long way to go or do you think we're at the cusp um of a kind of huge migration uh in these areas I me good question yeah definitely incentivization is definitely um very important because people need to see like have some form of perceived usefulness why should they use it it I don't know it can be in terms of token of appreciation or or it enables opport like social currency like networking opportunity Etc I think there are various um rules like various approaches I mean in form of the hackerone I mean what we enable them is of course they can win sponsor money but we also enable opportunity to to um take your web three carrier to The Next Step because if people don't know that you exist then how can you even advance to to some degree so I I think yeah appre like like incentivization is also important I'm not sure whether it's always money that is is important but more it's like engagement um honest engagement should be rewarded in whatever form that might be I think it's something that the protocols needs to um decide does it answer your question great yes so the lightning I don't really see well thanks first of all it was a great uh talk honestly and very different uh like mind opening in a way me when I started working uh like getting involved in crypto so can you speak a little out yeah sure when I when I personally started like becoming active in crypto in some way it was mostly by writing a Blog uh on sub and after a while I noticed that the most followers I had were from two regions the US and the blog is in English of course and the other was Nigeria and for me at first it was a surprise I was like uh I didn't expect it that's what I mean and my question now is mostly about like first of all how do you think like what kind of because I think we are all at what we do because we are so much more Western inclined even I like from Israel but uh you know still a lot of our perception is is much more Western than like close to I guess African perceptions like we don't know it what it really is and I'm first of all curious about what kind of different narratives do you think uh like play a meaningful role in to the African audience and for example for someone like me today that tries to do media within the space what kind of content is most important to create for people in Africa that can really like be more useful for them and interesting for them rather than uh maybe content that is uh more Western oriented thanks okay thank you for your question if um can I um summarize it so you want to ask what kind of content is it um is the best for Nigerian Mark about what kind of content okay okay now I get you I mean I think bringing down to your question when you said that you had fans like from Nigeria I mean I think no no but Nigeria is like it's a Powerhouse like they have like it's the most populous country in whole Africa 230 million people it's it's it's just like that's just to give you a little bit background information and and I mean the median age is super young so that's why I think each is like it's a Powerhouse that a um huge interest there I think when it comes to content I think people are more inclined to see content which maybe addresses to their needs because the because if you grow up in a system or like where the government systemically fails you I think then you just grew up in a in a mindset that maybe you have to take the bull by the horn and you do not rely like okay wait until the government does something for you but then in that in that aspect maybe it's more inclined to have content for um addressing local challenges for example I don't know like challenges might be for example in solving inflation for example having more like um alternative of how to a solution might be how to use your Mobile money money to to um your feature phone changing um when you want to offramp in Fiat into a STC that might be something that people want to see because this really addresses to their needs but I think it's also similar to Argentina case another my content that might be of interest is um for example many of the PayPal or or subscription that we use here in the western are they are not able to to manage or like to use use it so this type of content might be useful and not content in terms of I don't know alternative investment or strategy or whatsoever yeah does it answer your question thank you any other questions if not then um yeah the next hackathon it's end of August 29 to 31st August if anyone wants to come you're highly welcome happening University of Ghana yes I mean for sponsors who are interested we want to create enabling opportunity to invest in the future talent and planting a seed for the future as well so highly welcome um if you want want to stay in touch with me it's my contact address more than happy I'm here in belr as well for the next couple of days we can always have a chat if I did not answer all your questions but other than that thank you so much it was nice and see you soon