Code for Jordan: The First Code-Based Peacebuilding Program

The year 2020 brought new challenges across several scopes of business, and Corporate Social Responsibility was not exempt. However, with these new challenges, came new opportunities to continue to give back to the community, and sustain ProgressSoft’s constant efforts to bridge the gap between the Information Technology (IT) educational space and workplace, even in fully remote environments.

As a result, we decided to join forces with none other than Generations for Peace, a leading global non-profit peacebuilding organization that plays a vital role in empowering youth leaders to transform conflict in their communities into peaceful societies. Eventually, an aligned mission brought to life the first code-based peacebuilding program; Code for Jordan.

Code for Jordan was created with the aim to empower local youth and Syrian refugees by elevating their technical skills and providing them with the practical experience they need to flourish in the workplace and ultimately improve their economic, social and cultural participation in the community.

And so, the 32-hour training program journey began in May 2020, amidst the global pandemic, where 20 students from Balqa, Sahab and Mafraq were divided into three teams and onboarded for intensive training in the Flutter Framework. This is in addition to Source Control (GIT) and Scrum methodologies and more importantly, the development of their own projects using tools such as Firebase, Node.js and MySQL.

The training sessions were conducted remotely by three expert ProgressSoft mobile developers dedicated to conduct and monitor all sessions – an enjoyable process that resulted in highly engaged and dedicated teams that demonstrated continuous improvement in their projects throughout the program.

Ultimately, the training sessions and prototypes turned into full-fledged projects – and the results were remarkable.

Street Watch

by Team Sahab

Street Watch was developed in order to capture the streets, locations, and sidewalks that require maintenance in Sahab. The main idea is to take a photo of the location with a GPS tag to send it to the municipality contact. The aim is to support the municipality in prioritizing the maintenance needed in the community and ensure that the streets of Sahab are safe for people.

Download on Google Play

Tech Learn

by Team Mafraq

Tech Learn was developed in order to connect teachers with learners. The idea is for any person to register to teach in their field of expertise based on their qualifications. Users of the application would then select the suitable person to teach them a new skill that they require. The aim is to provide a new income stream for people who are able and would like to teach, while also contributing to better education for others.

Download on Google Play

Visit Saltus

by Team Balqa

Visit Saltus was developed to support local businesses in Al-Salt by providing them with opportunities to work indirectly through the application. It lists the attractions and tourism options in Balqa on a map and segments them according to religious sites, cultural tours, hotels, parks and more. The aim is to promote tourism in Balqa while bringing in additional income for local community members.

Download on Google Play

As a final note, we are extremely proud of our students and their project outcomes. We are also extremely honored to have been part of this program with Generations for Peace. It was an extremely rewarding experience on all levels and witnessing the outcomes of our students was undoubtedly the most satisfying reward.