’Corrupt Tales’ mobile app won the first prize of the Transparency International Hungary’s mobile application contest in the framework of the ’Átláccó’ Festival. This year, the festival included a conference, award ceremony, and a concert by Balkan Fanatik, all of which took place aboard A38 ship.

‘Átláccó’ Festival is a series of events organized by Transparency International Hungary (TI) on International Anti-Corruption Day.

International Anti-corruption Day is observed annually on the 9th of December since the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in December 2005. TI organised the Festival on the occasion of this day with the aim to draw people’s attention to fight against corruption.

Beyond the theoretical solutions, TI wants to introduce practical tools as well. Anti-Corruption Festival 2012 focused on how Information and Communication Technologies can be applied to enhance the process of making state actors more accountable to citizens and encourage youth to realize corruption in their everyday life, and to support them with online/offline tools in fighting against it.

Transparency, integrity, anti-corruption program

The conference was opened by the Norwegian Ambassador Tove Skarstein., The Minister of State for Public Administration and Justice, Bence Rétvári, then summarized the anti-corruption programs of the Hungarian government. Noémi Alexa the Executive Director of the TI Hungary followed with a commentary on the Hungarian government anti-corruption measures. She said there are numerous critical points in the law, for example, the system of the party and campaign financing, which have not been settled by the parties. “Nay , the result of the measure of the electoral register is a subsequent campaign, where the funding is not covered at all., Thus the parties are prepared for protection of additional unexplained sources”- added Noémi Alexa.

Regarding the allowance of the people in the public sector, Attila Péterfalvi, the President of the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, emphasized that the financed outlays from the public funds must be opened to the public. Tünde Handó, the president of the National Judicial Council also attended at the event., She  highlighted the importance of the integrity of the Judicial Council. “As the courts are opened to the public, the administration of the courts should be also transparent.”- said Handó.

The second half of the conference comprised of presentations by national and international non-governmental organizations, as well as media, who, like Transparency International, fight against corruption everyday.  Sunlight Foundation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA, for example, has a website detailing where politicians’ financial support come from.  Locally, K-Monitor and Digital Identity highlight the presence of corruption in our daily lives and offer ideas on how people can fight against corruption with a special website or even with cell phone Apps.

Mobile application contest – Fighting corruption with humor

TI launched a mobile application contest with the aim of finding individual solutions for the youth, which can be easy to understand and useful in their everyday life. The winners of the competition received monetary prizes sponsored by the Dutch Embassy. The awards were held in the frame of the festival, where the contestants presented their winning apps.

The first place winner designed an application that playfully draws the attention to the adverse effects of corruption through storytelling.

1st prize, 500.000 HUF – Apps of ’Corrupt tales’: Yusuf Bayrak and Gábor Novák
2nd prize, 300.000 HUF – Apps of TI’s website: Peter Tóth
3rd prize, 100.000 – Apps of ’Stone, paper, corruption’ Máté Cziner
Telenor sponsored a special prize (Samsung Galaxy tab and a one-year subscription to Hypernet) and awarded creators of Pausz Apps, Károly Pocsarovsykz and Dániel Bátori

(The mobile apps can be downloaded by clicking here.)

The last program of the ’Átlacco’ Festival was the Balkan Fanatik concert. Gábor Lepés, the leader of the band said he  agrees with TI’s goals and understands the importance of the fight against corruption, which is the reason why they gladly accepted to perform at the Festival.

The organization encouraged the youth to join the Transparency International BASE. This community aims to provide a platform for those concerned with the fight against corruption and ready to act. Anyone who values transparency and honorable behavior and is not willing to idly watch abuse of power and corruption  can join. “This festival and  similar programs are the most suitable to affect the younger generation. If we want a corruption-free society, the social awareness raising should began with them.” – accented Noémi Alexa, the Executive Director of TI.

Click here to see more photos about the festival!