The annual challenge aims to address society’s most pressing issues; which is why this year, IBM is asking developers, data scientists and problem solvers to address two urgent crises that have the power to compromise our health, our planet and our survival.
On February 27, IBM and the David Clark Cause, in partnership with
United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation, launched the 2020
Call for Code Global Challenge — an
annual competition that invites developers and activists to help save lives by
building applications fueled by data and open source technology including AI,
cloud, blockchain and IoT. IBM works with the winning team to fortify, test and
deploy its solution through IBM’s Code and Response initiative. Last year, over
180,000 developers from 165 nations participated in Code and Response and Call
for Code and they created more than 5,000 applications focused on natural
disaster preparedness and relief. The theme of this year’s Call is climate
change.
But, as we all know, life as we know it has rapidly
changed
in the past month with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic — revealing the
limits of many of the systems we take for granted. So, IBM quickly saw the need
to expand the Call to include COVID-19 and is now asking problem-solvers around
the world to think about open-source technology solutions to this crisis, as
well — specifically in the areas of crisis communication, ways to improve
remote learning, and how to inspire cooperative local communities.
Previous winners — including
Prometeo (2019) and
Project Owl (2018) — along with other
applications from these programs continue to be supported by IBM developer teams
and partners throughout their testing, scaling, and deployments across
communities in need. Prometeo just field-tested its health-monitoring technology
in Barcelona, with wildfire firefighters during a controlled burn; and
Project Owl, which re-establishes network connectivity in the wake of disasters,
has already been deployed in hurricane-hit areas of Puerto Rico.
Learn more about this year's Challenge here and here.
Published Mar 23, 2020 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET
Sustainable Brands Staff