StartupCafe

So, it’s the end of Day 1 at the first Scottish Social Innovation Camp. The idea is to take 6 back-of-the-envelope ideas, add lots of people, then try and make it happen over 48 hours. The point is to take ideas that could potentially create social change by connecting people through the web.

This is the 3rd SICamp, and this time round, the 6 ideas are:

Citipedia-An online public town planning tool.

Ex-Changing Places -> Weedayout –Google Maps mashup to map disable toilet facilities.

My Police Service – MyPolice.org – A platform to allow the public to give positive and negative feedback on the police.

Fix the Freakin Buses – Provide different ways of accessing live bus data (starting with Lothian buses).

Community Investors Club – Provide a micro-lending site for people to lend local businesses/people.

Social Chain Gangs -> Flocklocal – Flash-mobbing for social good – e.g. clean up the park.

It’s amazing to see the different progress that each team has been making. Some have full working prototypes, some have very well-thought through business models, and some are even organising their first flash mob already! It’s simply amazing to see 60+ people all getting together, and willing to give up 48 hours of their weekend, pouring their time into something which is not-for-profit.

For a bit of fun, you can even bet on which team will win Social Innovation Camp. The smart money is on MyPolice.org (Disclaimer: this is the project I’ve been work on), although I think the competition will be very, very close.

One interesting thing that I’ve noticed is the use of twitter at the camp. The camp spans over 2 floors at the Saltire Centre, Glasgow, and the main channel of communication is not mobile phones, but twitter (#sicamp). Plus, 3 4 of the projects already have twitter accounts (@weedayout, @flocklocal, @mypolice, @citipedia). It really shows you how widespread twitter is becoming as an advertising/comms medium.