A first for South Africa was a gathering that brought together passionately techno-affluent computer geeks, media personnel and civic society with a craving for open-data systems. Held at Ndifuna Ukwazi’s office in Cape Town over the weekend, the event code-named 'Hackathon' started with a brief introduction to some of the initiative’s key objectives and what the Open Data and Democracy Initiative was about. Comprising a group of young people pushing for a more open democracy, the initiative is made up of ordinary citizen activists, technologists, journalists and entrepreneurs aimed at developing and applying practical open technologies and promoting open data as a means for efficient governance, increased transparency, improved service delivery and empowerment of SA citizens.