Founded in 2009 as a meetup for journalists and technologists to improve the information ecosystem, Hacks/Hackers initially aimed to create a network of journalists ("hacks") and technologists ("hackers") to rethink the future of news and information.
Over the past 15 years, we have significantly expanded our impact across the information ecosystem, organizing dozens of meetups globally that have facilitated new job opportunities, the founding of startups, and the initiation of innovative collaborations.
Building on Hacks/Hackers' 15-year legacy of impactful convening, we will address critical information challenges through three strategic priorities:
- Convening for Innovation: Organize a series of symposiums, summits and hackathons, gathering participants from diverse fields. The primary goals are to identify new and diverse talents, initiate interdisciplinary collaboration, and synthesize conversations into actionable steps by distilling key discussions and insights into concrete, innovative solutions.
- Strengthening Media Infrastructure: Enhance the technological capabilities of news organizations by providing on-demand product and technology consultations. Goals include assessing product infrastructure, iterating a multi-year product strategy, and prototyping new products that leverage advanced technology to improve the consumer news experience and boost revenue.
- Advancing Information integrity: Improving the veracity, quality, and credibility of online information, essential to a healthy civil society, by providing microgrants to support teams researching or testing new tech tools for global journalism credibility, enhance Wikipedia citation integrity, and facilitating a forum for Credibility Coalition participants to refine ideas with journalists and technologists.
Hacks/Hackers expanded mission:
Uniting diverse communities and driving technology innovation to foster a thriving information ecosystem that enhances media integrity and public trust.