To celebrate 2021 for its many successes, we will share 12 main highlights of our work.
1. Open Data Hackathons
In 2021 we organized two Open Data Hackathons, which resulted in the development of two interesting applications developed based on data sets published by institutions.
The first application enables the converting of the municipal budgets into machine-readable formats that can be further compared and visualized. The second application will map and compare data about the working conditions and infrastructure of primary and secondary schools in North Macedonia.
Big thanks to Discindo and Web Pillar&Data Consulting for their hard work in the hackathons and for developing these wonderful tools.
The hackathons were organized in the framework of the USAID Civic Engagement Project-North Macedonia.
2. CSOs supported in 2021
In 2021 Metamorphosis supported 41 civil society organizations through grant awarding. 30 of these organizations are actively working to promote the Digital Agenda in the Western Balkans while the rest are working on social accountability, transparency, anti-corruption and media literacy.
In addition to the financial support, Metamorphosis provided all CSOs with capacity building programs in various fields, which helped them to improve.
In addition, through the TechSoup software donation program, the Foundation provided 187 free software packages to 16 organizations.
3. Helping citizens in using e-services
Through the support we provided to the civil society in the region, 15 local support centers for e-services were established where over 18 000 citizens have been supported so far in effectively using concrete e-services in their respective countries.
A big thank you to all the ICEDA Network members for working committedly on a daily basis to bring the benefits of digitalization closer to the citizens.
4. Мета.мк article that caused change in our community
On 19 October, Мета – новинска агенција published a text about а 16-year-old high school student Mia Čičkarovikj, who said that she is a diabetic and needs monitors for painless measurement of glycemia: https://meta.mk/…/we-need-painless-glucose-monitors…/
After the publishing of this article on Мета – новинска агенција, the Minister of Health Venko Filipče, on 21 October, invited the high-school student Mia to a meeting on which he promised that the procurement of monitors for diabetes has begun and that these monitors will be free for all patients: https://www.facebook.com/filipce.venko/posts/2799688317004850
On 21 October, Meta.mk wrote an article about Filipce’s meeting with high-school student Mia and the promised purchase: https://bit.ly/3FxSrt4
5. International Conference e-Society.mk
The seventeenth edition of the international e-Society.mk conference, Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities took place between 30 November – 3 December in a hybrid environment, bringing together speakers, trainers and participants from the conference room in Skopje and from around the world. The conference intended to gather practitioners and theorists of a large array of topics representing the pressing challenges and opportunities of the digital age.
The conference was attended by 631 participants from 27 countries, which enriched the international character of the conference.
The live stream on Facebook reached over 7644 and we are very proud to have been able to allow multiple means for the participants to access the conference.
6. Open government institutions
In 2021, Metamorphosis trained and mentored 27 institutions at the local and central government to create and improve their open data policies as practices. Over 270 essential datasets were prepared, releasing important data about the work of institutions as well as the registers that they hold.
Supporting the open culture of the public sector is an important part of Metamorphosis’ mission and in 2021 we were able to contribute to it significantly.
7. Media driving positive change in communities
The Office for Management of Registers issued a decision which notes that the institution will no longer request citizens to submit birth certificates “not older than six months” as has previously been the practice. This decision was a direct consequence of Portalb’s research through the Increasing Civic Engagement in the Digital Agenda initiative which gave light to multiple testimonies from citizens and expert opinions and also requested explanations from the respective institutions.
Media are a valuable tool to voice citizens’ concerns and advocate for change, as this example shows. Congratulations to Suad Bajrami and Portalb ‘s team for the good work.

8. Events in 2021

In 2021 we organized around 40 regional, national and local awareness-raising and advocacy events, covering issues in the areas of media literacy, digital agenda, open data, government accountability, Covid 19 disinformation and many more. With these efforts, we directly engaged at least 2800 people and we will continue to mobilize communities toward positive change and to seek government accountability.

9. Capacity development activities

In 2021 we organized around 55 capacity development activities, engaging at least 2400 representatives from CSOs, journalists, teachers, youth and institutions. We have offered trainings in the areas of media literacy, countering disinformation, open data, using e-services, data protection, cyber security, creating and using open educational resources and many more. Capacity development is a significant component of our programme and an important milestone in what made 2021 a successful year.

10. Fight against the infodemic

In 2021 Truthmeter produced over 1000 articles, of which 400 were fact-checks on the topic of COVID 19 and vaccines available in Macedonian, Albanian and English languages. We tackled the infodemic committedly and contributed significantly to raising awareness among the general public about the spreading of dangerous disinformation, particularly on social media. Here is a recap of Truthmeter’s fight against the infodemic in 2021 https://bit.ly/3JBBsbM

11. Тhe most popular analyzes for the past year

In 2021, the Metamorphosis Foundation published 15 reports and analyzes. Here are the 8 most popular analyzes for the past year

  1. Analysis of disinformation related to Covid-19 in North Macedonia: https://bit.ly/3sWmF5F
  2. Monitoring the European integration process: Media Sector Reforms Halfway completed reforms – the political will is here one minute, gone the next: https://bit.ly/3HkNJPL
  3. Analysis of e-services in municipalities of the Republic of North Macedonia: https://bit.ly/32wLxWE
  4. Openness Index of the LSGUs 2021: https://bit.ly/3mFtgNU
  5. Прирачник за дигитална безбедност за наставници и професори во основно и средно училиште: https://bit.ly/3EBEQQ9
  6. Digital Agenda Observatory – Country Report and Roadmap for Digital Agenda advancement in North Macedonia: https://bit.ly/3HA9zPB
  7. Assessment of Good Governance in North Macedonia and the region through the Openness Index – Parliament and the Executive Government 2021: https://bit.ly/3zbaram
  8. Contribution of the Metamorphosis Foundation to the public consultation on the draft National Strategy for ICT 2021-2025 and the accompanying Action Plan (II): https://bit.ly/3EBFqgN

12. Over 300 000 followers on social media

In 2021, around 300,000 followers followed the foundation’s activities through the Facebook and Twitter pages of Metamorphosis, Portalb, Vistinomer, Meta, ICEDA, КриТинк, Action See, OER.

Thank you for your trust!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 🙂

 

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