Tbilisi to host Social Innovation Camp Caucasus

13.03.2010 18:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Social Innovation Camp is about solving social
challenges in new ways – by bringing together ideas and digital tools
to create web-based innovations in just 48 hours.

Social Innovation Camp Caucasus, due in Tbilisi on April 8-10, will
gather 40 participants – designers, entrepreneurs, social needs
experts, marketing, legal, advertising gurus from Georgia, Azerbaijan
and Armenia to work on an idea of a potential social start-up that can
make a change and compete for a prize.

Idea of organizing Social Innovation Camp Caucasus came from a Camp in
Bratislava, Slovakia (September, 2009), proving that 48 hours are
enough to make the idea real if there are people who believe in it and
also have different skills to contribute to the idea.

`I was at the SI Camp in Bratislava and the biggest benefit for me was
to see how the right group of people can achieve an incredible amount
in just 48 hours,’ coordinator of the project in Armenia Onnik
Krikorian told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

`Just with laptops, free tools, and wi-fi, real projects that can
contribute to social change can be put together in a very short period
of time. Another benefit is that noted specialists in this area from
Europe and the US were present, and will be in Tbilisi too, to share
their knowledge and experience.

I think the main benefit will be that the event will not only show how
social media can be used to tackle social issues, but these ideas will
also be working and very real when the camp is finished. Then those
projects can be taken back and implemented in individual countries or
even on a regional basis if the right partners and individuals are
there and willing. To date, I don’t think many online social projects
from the NGO sector are being put together with the right specialists
involved. However, for any online initiative to be a success you need
that. You need the ideas, the activists, the marketing people, the
technical guys to make it work, and the designers to make sure users
feel enticed enough to use it. That’s also what SI Camp will do.

There will be an open meeting for anyone interested to attend at
Counterpart International next Wednesday at 2pm. I’m also more than
happy to meet with other individuals and groups to introduce the idea
behind SI Camp to them,’ Onnik Krikorian said.