Bridging the Gap Hackathon

20-24 January 2025, Nairobi, Kenya

The “Bridging the Gap Hackathon” is a 5-day event to bring together public health decision-makers, developers, technical experts, and academics and researchers to create free, open-source resources to support and facilitate evidence-informed decision making and address health policy needs in Kenya.

Background

Experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the challenges decision makers face in interpreting and using analytics for public health policy. To respond to these challenges, researchers at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis (MRC-GIDA) at Imperial College London and the Center for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (CEMA) at the University of Nairobi are currently conducting a research study to explore how the gap between quantitative scientists and policymakers, especially in resource-constrained settings can be bridged.

Who Should Attend

The hackathon aims to include a diverse audience, who will either contribute to idea generation or developing the identified software tools. The latter activity will include core training on collaborative coding best practices, which will be strengthened by the delivery of pre-hackathon virtual training courses and teaching material for enrolled participants.

  • Health Decision-Makers & Providers: Ministry of Health officials, health organizations and public health specialists who provide insights based on real-world public health needs and/or ensure developed tools address practical challenges.

  • Developers and Technical Experts: Individuals proficient in R programming, version control using Git and GitHub, epidemiological modelling, and software development.

  • Academics and Researchers: Participants from various Kenyan institutions, not limited to CEMA, who are involved in infectious disease modelling and public health data analysis.

Hackathon Schedule

  • Day 1: Foundations and Group Formation
    • Introductions, icebreaker activities, and team building exercises.
    • Sharing of real-world challenges presented by Ministry of Health, health organizations and/or public health specialists.
    • Formation of interdisciplinary teams focused on specific public health challenges.
  • Days 2-4: Coding and Collaboration
    • Overview of Git, Github and collaborative coding practices (GitHub training should have been completed before attending the course).
    • Dedicated project work time with guidance from experienced facilitators.
    • Continuous interaction and feedback sessions to refine ideas and approaches.
  • Day 5: Presentation, Feedback and Next Steps
    • Teams present their minimum viable products to Ministry of Health representatives and other stakeholders.
    • Constructive feedback and discussions on the relevance and potential impact of the tools developed.

Venue

The hackathon will be hosted by the Center for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (CEMA), and will take place at:

Nairobi Safari Club by Swiss-Belhotel, University Wy, Nairobi, Kenya Google Maps

Sponsors

We are extremely grateful to our sponsors for the hackathon:

  • MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London (MR/X020258/1) for their support of the hackathon, including supporting researchers from Kenya and the United Kingdom to attend and providing resources for the hackathon.

  • Wellcome for funding the study inspiring the hackathon (“Leveraging forecasts to optimise decision making” - 228271/Z/23/Z), which supported the original Ideathon team to travel for the hackathon.

  • The Gates Foundation (INV-044079) for supporting involvement of CEMA staff in the hackathon. ### Sponsors

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