Are you a developer? You can help the world fight COVID-19 and Climate Change! #COVID19

Code Development

The world is fighting a very serious battle with COVID-19 right now. Every country, state and city are trying hard to fight this new global threat that has all of us in its grip. More than half of humanity is locked down, and we see very worrying numbers emerge across the globe.

Economies have come to a grinding halt, and people have put their lives on hold. The tech and medical community have come together to synergize and explore possible solutions/cures for this new virus that is rampaging our lives. Everyone wants to help this fight, and so can you.

First and foremost, begin by staying at home and flattening the curve. This will help prevent overwhelming the health systems worldwide. The next and most important way you can help if you are a developer is by answering the Call for Code by IBM that is trying to solve key issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you look at the pandemic, the whole world needs help in three important areas-

  • Crisis Communication
  • Remote Education
  • Community Cooperation

Crisis communication is the key need of the hour as the flow of information is vital to address and properly manage the situation and any complications that arise due to the virus. As we all are aware, the education sector is the first one to move to an online model so students do not pay the price of the lockdown. But remote learning comes with its own challenges, of scale and stability that need a lot of solutions. Community cooperation is the biggest weapon in our armory to tackle the complications that social distancing and day to day life are bringing in due to the pandemic.

So, if you are a code warrior and have ideas that can give scalable, reliable and stable solutions to these issues, then you should answer the Call For Code and help humanity tackle this invisible, yet very potent challenge.

COVID-19 isn’t the only thing that the world is struggling with right now. Climate change is a big challenge that we have been trying to tackle for a long time now. Climate change, if unaddressed has the potential to wipe out the only planet that we have to call our own. Climate action needs clear thinking and concerted efforts. It cannot be taken lightly.

When it comes to climate change, the important challenges are

  • Water Sustainability
  • Energy Sustainability
  • Disaster Resiliency

These topics are self-explanatory to even school children. To put it in a nutshell, we cannot live without water, and we need to ensure that we use this resource responsibly so the generations after us have water to sustain life. Energy needs a paradigm shift to move to more eco-friendly and sustainable modes. Whenever a disaster like an earthquake or a flood hits us, we should have enough measures in place to be able to manage the impact, fix things and get back to our lives.

So, if you are a developer and want to help with either fighting COVID-19 or Climate Change, read on

Four easy steps to get involved

Accept the challenge

 Learn about the competition, see what you can win, and start coding with a free IBM Cloud account.

 Build with open tech

 Learn how you can make the most of resources like code patterns, expert videos, and tutorials to build your idea.

 Find your squad

 Whether you need to find teammates, meet experts, ask questions, or share ideas – there’s a community for you.

Submit your idea

 Tell us what you’ve built and how. Submit this with your Participation Agreement for a chance to win $200,000.

 Important links:

  1. Developers interested in participating as a competitor can find all necessary information here. Organisations interested in supporting as a sponsor, can find all necessary information here.
  2. Find reference materials and technical resources on the COVID-19 pandemic here.
  3. Starter kits – starter kits and resources.

Deadlines:

The submission portal opened on March 20th, and the deadline for the initial submission is April 27th. The top 3 solutions will be announced at THINK on May 5th. The final submission deadline is July 31st and the Global Challenge winners will be announced in October. Developers have the chance to win $200,000, obtain open source support from the Linux Foundation, meet with mentors and investors, and see their solution actually get deployed through Code and Response to exemplify further using tech for good.

What are you waiting for? Get your thinking cap on and get to it!

About Shakthi

I am a Tech Blogger, Disability Activist, Keynote Speaker, Startup Mentor and Digital Branding Consultant. Also a McKinsey Executive Panel Member. Also known as @v_shakthi on twitter. Been around Tech for two decades now.

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