From Hackathon to Fellowship: How DataFest Tbilisi Became the Hub of Democracy Tech Innovation

The Alliance of Democracies Foundation has just returned from Tbilisi, Georgia, where I stayed a few extra days to unwind after the successful conclusion of our last Democracy Tech Hackathon this year. The Georgian edition was organized in partnership with DataFest Tbilisi , the largest annual international data festival in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, led by Nino Macharashvili , a pivotal member of our inaugural 2021 cohort.

This was my second visit to DataFest Tbilisi and Georgia, I penned my thoughts in a post last year, sharing my insights and experiences from my first visit.

The inception of our Democracy Tech Hackathons last year aimed at fostering tech solutions for freedom and democracy, alongside strengthening the Democracy Tech ecosystem in our target countries. These hackathons have provided a unique avenue to move beyond the traditional online application process for the Democracy Tech Entrepreneur fellowship. Instead, we leverage these events to identify and recruit the most promising tech talent dedicated to defending democracy and freedom.

Over the past three years, our mission has been to cultivate a collaborative network of tech and democracy-oriented entrepreneurs across Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia. With each cohort, this community has continued to grow and flourish. The Democracy Tech Hackathons have proven instrumental in staying connected with this ever-expanding network of freedom and democracy-loving entrepreneurs, who serve as mentors, speakers, and ambassadors for our work in the region.

This year's DataFest Tbilisi was like a reunion and celebration of our community of democracy tech fellows from Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia. Nino opened the event with jubilant remarks following Georgia's EU candidate status announcement, officially declared a day before the conference commenced. The EU reports an impressive 83% approval rate among Georgians for joining the bloc, a sentiment enshrined in the Georgian Constitution. The celebratory atmosphere permeated throughout DataFest and my time in Tbilisi—congratulations to all my Georgian friends on this significant step toward full European integration.

Following Nino's introductory remarks, the stage was handed over to Nare Hakobyan , who co-hosted DataFest Tbilisi alongside Aleksandra Shalibashvili . Nare represented Armenia in our Democracy Tech Entrepreneur Fellowship this year, presenting SocialLab ’s Data for Democracy—at Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

Nare also doubled as a mentor for our hackathon participants, alongside other alumni fellows from Georgia, including Irakli Kavtaradze —Director at Z.axis , Gio Kakhiani ???? (The best Bubble developer) and Ketevan Bosikashvili —Executive Director at Supernova and CEO at Biterium AI, all from our class of 2022. As part of the jury, we invited Temur Chichua , the Software Engineering Team Lead at FundBox, who was a part of our 2021 cohort.

In addition to being on the jury, Temur was also a speaker at this year’s DataFest Tbilisi, delivering a talk on "Navigating Through the Risks and Rewards of Artificial Intelligence." During his presentation, Temur cited an example from his time in fellowship and at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, referring to our 2021 fellow Nikita Lukianets —the Founder of Open Ethics. Open Ethics aims to build trust between machines and humans by assisting machines in explaining themselves. Nikita is developing an open transparency protocol to help product owners describe their AI-powered solutions in a standardized, user-friendly, and explicit manner.

DataFest Tbilisi also provided me an opportunity to meet Anton Tarasyuk , Co-Founder and Expertise Lead at Mantis Analytics . Anton emerged victorious in our Democracy Tech pitch competition held in Kyiv, Ukraine last month, securing a spot in our fellowship for the upcoming year. At DataFest Tbilisi, Anton shared a case study detailing how Mantis Analytics employs AI to counter Russian propaganda. I eagerly look forward to learning more about how Mantis is contributing to the defense of Ukraine in the months leading up to the 2024 Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

The Democracy Tech Hackathon concluded with two winning teams, with Vinici securing the top spot for their AI-powered Political candidate profile directory. Open Evidence secured the second position. Special thanks to the International Strategy Forum by Schmidt Futures for awarding both teams a prize of 2500 USD each. Vinici, led by Ana Toklikishvili, alongside Mantis Analytics from Ukraine and Marmoris from Moldova, have already secured a spot in our 2024 Democracy Tech Entrepreneur Fellowship.

The Council of Europe also recognized David B. , a hackathon participant who pitched MotivApp, with a 1000 EUR award for powering citizen engagement in the election process. A special thanks to Natalia Voutova .

The Democracy Tech Hackathon at DataFest Tbilisi proved to be yet another significant milestone in our ongoing mission to advance technology for democracy. The innovative solutions and the continuous growth of our community showcase the positive impact of bridging democracy, technology, and entrepreneurship as witnessed at this year's DataFest Tbilisi, the hub of innovation in democracy tech.