diff --git a/apps/cic-notify/cic_notify/version.py b/apps/cic-notify/cic_notify/version.py
index 6c1fe32d..97975986 100644
--- a/apps/cic-notify/cic_notify/version.py
+++ b/apps/cic-notify/cic_notify/version.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from cic_notify.error import PleaseCommitFirstError
 
 logg = logging.getLogger()
 
-version = (0, 4, 0, 'alpha.2')
+version = (0, 4, 0, 'alpha.3')
 
 version_object = semver.VersionInfo(
         major=version[0],
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ version_string = str(version_object)
 
 def git_hash():
     import subprocess
-    git_diff = subprocess.run(['git', 'diff'], capture_output=True)
-    if len(git_diff.stdout) > 0:
-        raise PleaseCommitFirstError()
 
     git_hash = subprocess.run(['git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'], capture_output=True)
     git_hash_brief = git_hash.stdout.decode('utf-8')[:8]
@@ -35,7 +32,7 @@ def git_hash():
 
 try:
     version_git = git_hash()
-    version_string += '.build.{}'.format(version_git)
+    version_string += '+build.{}'.format(version_git)
 except FileNotFoundError:
     time_string_pair = str(time.time()).split('.')
     version_string += '+build.{}{:<09d}'.format(
diff --git a/apps/cic-notify/requirements.txt b/apps/cic-notify/requirements.txt
index 0ab7977c..0b6f3615 100644
--- a/apps/cic-notify/requirements.txt
+++ b/apps/cic-notify/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-celery~=4.4.7
-confini~=0.3.6a1
 alembic~=1.4.2
+celery~=4.4.7
+confini~=0.3.6rc3
 redis~=3.5.3
 semver==2.13.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile b/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
index 6dbdd269..8257348e 100644
--- a/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/apps/cic-ussd/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-FROM python:3.8.5-alpine
+# FROM python:3.8.5-alpine
+FROM python:3.8.6-slim-buster
 
 # set working directory
 WORKDIR /usr/src
@@ -6,10 +7,8 @@ WORKDIR /usr/src
 # add args for installing from self-hosted packages
 ARG pip_extra_index_url_flag='--extra-index-url https://pip.grassrootseconomics.net:8433'
 
-# add alpine sys packages
-RUN apk update && \
-        apk add git linux-headers postgresql-dev gnupg bash
-RUN apk add --update musl-dev gcc libffi-dev
+RUN apt-get update && \
+	apt install -y gcc gnupg libpq-dev wget make g++ gnupg bash procps git
 
 # create secrets directory
 RUN mkdir -vp pgp/keys
diff --git a/apps/cic-ussd/requirements.txt b/apps/cic-ussd/requirements.txt
index 00dc2bc1..f22e7246 100644
--- a/apps/cic-ussd/requirements.txt
+++ b/apps/cic-ussd/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-cic-types==0.1.0a8
 alembic==1.4.2
 amqp==2.6.1
 attrs==20.2.0
@@ -7,10 +6,11 @@ betterpath==0.2.2
 billiard==3.6.3.0
 celery==4.4.7
 cffi==1.14.3
-cic-eth~=0.10.0a22
-cic-notify==0.3.1
+cic-eth~=0.10.0a41
+cic-notify~=0.4.0a3
+cic-types~=0.1.0a8
 click==7.1.2
-confini~=0.3.6a1
+confini~=0.3.6rc3
 cryptography==3.2.1
 faker==4.17.1
 iniconfig==1.1.1
@@ -44,4 +44,4 @@ transitions==0.8.4
 uWSGI==2.0.19.1
 vcversioner==2.16.0.0
 vine==1.3.0
-zope.interface==5.1.2
+zope.interface==5.1.2
\ No newline at end of file