The Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission, together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as well as European tech companies, international development agencies and civil society launch a global hackathon (#smartdevelopmenthack) in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.
In response to the effects of the corona pandemic and to boost response capacities in African, Asian and Latin America countries, the European Commission is looking to quickly support its partner countries. The aim is to think outside the box and to find solutions in the digital environment for direct application in development projects. The European Union and its Member States are responding as “Team Europe” since the global crisis requires a global response. The Call for Solutions will focus on addressing the immediate health crisis and resulting developmental needs. To underpin these actions, the EU as well as BMZ will award the five best projects of the Hackathon.
The project aims to jointly scale digital solutions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Many international actors and development cooperation projects are already relying on digital innovations and hackathon formats. This hackathon is therefore intended to build on existing digital solutions across countries and sectors, refine them in a targeted manner and promote digital innovations. The solutions will then be implemented quickly and purposefully in existing development cooperation projects. The initiative is supported by European development agencies from Member States (such as France, Belgium, Estonia and Luxemburg), European Tech-Companies (such as SAP, Vodafone and Orange), international institutions (such as Smart Africa, UNDP and AfDB) as well as start-up networks (such as Make-IT and i4policy).
More information:
https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/news/coronavirus-eu-calls-smartdevelopmenthack_en