Call for Code
A/NZ takes up the Call for Code 2020 Challenge
March 11, 2020
Categorized: Call for Code
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Author: DeveloperSteve Coochin, Developer Advocate, IBM Developer
Call for Code is now in its third year and in 2020 we are asking the world’s developers and creative thinkers to build solutions for COVID-19 and climate change.
We have all seen the effects of climate change and how it’s affecting life on the planet. In A/NZ the recent bushfires, floods and even snow in Tasmania during summer are signs of the unprecedented changes occurring on our blue-green home.
Willie Tejada, GM & Chief Developer Advocate, IBM Digital Business Group, recently shared that “from its inception, Call for Code was created to take on society’s most pressing issues, which is why we are expanding this year’s Challenge to address both climate change and COVID-19, two urgent crises that have the power to compromise our health, our planet, and our survival. We’re asking developers, data scientists, and problem solvers to answer the Call.”
Climate change efforts will be focused on:
The COVID-19 response will concentrate on:
Something needs to be done, and the clock is ticking!
I was fortunate this year to join the IBM Developer global contingent in Geneva for the Call for Code challenge starter kit creation workshops. Working closely with the UN over two days, we ideated problem statements and agnostic solutions common to the three focus points.
Day one
Day one of the workshops started with some moving words from the team from the United Nations, sharing stories from in the field far and wide. Their passion only drives the magnitude for the task at hand, a task that grows bigger each day and spans every part of the globe. These are people that want to help guide, encourage and support on a global scale and are only hampered by mindsets, sentiment and (dare I say) politics.
I joined the disaster resiliency team. We ideated problem statements and built out persona mapping. We also created the initial framework to build our sample kit on. Our mapped persona talked to a solution designed for a 60-year-old woman in India named Priya, who was the primary carer for two grandchildren and lived in a high flood-prone area accustomed to seasonal disaster flooding.
Day two
Day two moved into solutioning tech and conceptualising required infrastructure. This had to be a quick and straightforward agnostic solution from the development side that was easy to use.
We identified that most of the solutions were geared around an app or hardware-based solution. Each either focusing on refinable localised preparedness and resiliency plans or early notification and alerting of an imminent or occurring disaster threat.
The kit then evolved into an agnostic API-first approach, enabling agnostic data exchange between data storage from clients and then access from data-based modelling tools.
The kits are designed to get you up and running quickly with a scalable open-sourced solution. You can find out more about the kits here.
Answer the call
As I write this at three am (got to love Jetlag), I am reminded again of what’s at stake, our planet! So, I’m pleased to announce, to help build out more local submissions, we will be running Call for Code 2020 virtual hackathons in A/NZ over the coming months. Your ideas to help halt and reverse the impact of climate change and COVID-19 could earn you $200K USD and actually be deployed.
These online events will be designed to help you get started in forming teams, aligning ideas and building out solutions to then submit to the global challenge.
You can still submit without coming to one of the events, and if you need help or want some advice for your submission, please reach out to the local IBM Developer team.
You can learn more about the 2020 Global Call for Code Challenge in A/NZ here.
Or we hope you join us at one of the virtual hackathons below:
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