Call for Code, the global developer initiative founded in 2018 by social impact entrepreneur David Clark, today announced the launch of Call for Code AI — expanding its mission into the era of AI-native systems and responsible, real-world AI deployment.

Winning teams from multiple universities in Kenya, SBA Info Solutions, and Unisys developed AI-powered solutions to address social and humanitarian issues to make a real difference

In its eighth year, Call for Code presents a series of SDG-focused hackathons throughout the year, kicking off with a competition to build AI agents

Winning teams from Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Persistent, and independent consultants developed AI-powered solutions to help improve equitable access to essential resources and opportunities

Now in its seventh year, Call for Code challenges developers and university students worldwide to build AI-powered solutions to help historically underserved and vulnerable people access essential needs

Today, Call for Code Creator, David Clark Cause, Founding Partner IBM, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and Program Affiliate the Linux Foundation announced the winners of the sixth annual Call for Code Global Challenge.

The 2023 Call for Code Global Challenge, an annual initiative that encourages developers to create projects that combat climate change with AI-powered technology, officially kicked off this week.

Entering its sixth year, Call for Code introduces multiple challenges for global community of developers and students, and launches new initiative for startups and ISVs

A team of four Augustana University students has been named the grand prize winner in a global coding competition.

Call for Code founding partner IBM (NYSE: IBM), creator, David Clark Cause, charitable partner United Nations Human Rights, and program affiliate, the Linux Foundation announced the winner of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge

Organizers of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge have launched their annual invitation to software developers from around the world to create open-source solutions that accelerate sustainability and combat climate change.

David Clark Cause, IBM, United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation today officially launched the 2022 Call For Code.

David Clark Cause, IBM, United Nations Human Rights, the Linux Foundation and more to support Call for Code developers from 180 nations with open source-powered hybrid cloud and AI solutions

Created to combat water quality-related deaths, the Saaf Water sensor and analytics platform for rural localities wins 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge

With the backing of the Clinton Global Initiative, the partners are calling on the open-source community to help the Caribbean island implement economically friendly EEW systems.

Carole King, Rod Stewart, Melissa Etheridge, Sia, Kesha also join call for developers to create solutions to climate change issues

Together with Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation, IBM today announced the launch of the 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge.

The tech company and “GMA” sponsor is creating a better world by using big ideas and breakthrough technology to improve lives.

The 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge, an initiative to combat climate change with open-source-powered technology, is officially underway.

When IBM and the organizers of the Call for Code Global Challenge announced the grand prize winner last week of its third annual international tech-for-good competition, they also unveiled a new Call for Code initiative: Call for Code for Racial Justice, which IBM is describing as "a vital initiative that brings together technology and a powerful ecosystem to combat one of the greatest challenges of our time: racial injustice." Just as the original Call for Code Challenge urged developers around the world to use their skills to address climate change, and then both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Call for Code for Racial Justice expands the admonition further, calling on the international community of hundreds of thousands of developers to contribute to solutions to confront racial inequalities. Call for Code for Racial Justice encourages the adoption and innovation of open source projects to drive progress in three key areas: Police and Judicial Reform and Accountability; Diverse Representation; and Policy and Legislation Reform. The new initiative emerged from an internal IBM program called the Call for Code Emb(race) Challenge. It was started by Black IBMers who, along with Red Hatters and IBM allies, applied their ingenuity and expertise to design and develop technology solutions to address the problem of systemic racism. These solutions are now being opened up to the world as open source projects through the Call for Code tech-for-good platform. The organizers are partnering with a number of organizations, including: Black Girls Code, Collab Capital, Dream Corps, The United Way Worldwide, American Airlines, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and Red Hat. "Black Girls Code was created to introduce programming and technology to a new generation of coders," said Anesha Grant, director of alumnae and educational programs at Black Girls Code, in a statement, "and we believe that a new generation of coders will shape our futures. We're excited to participate in Call for Code for Racial Justice and to spark meaningful change." The Call for Code for Racial Justice launched officially this week at the virtual All Things Open. The IBM Call for Code for Racial Justice team kicked off the competition by contributing "solution starters" to the open source community. These projects were built using technologies such as Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, Blockchain ledger, Node.js, Vu.js, Docker, Kubernetes and Tekton, said Evaristus Mainsah, General Manager, IBM Hybrid Cloud and Edge Ecosystem and co-chair of IBM's Black Executive Council, and Willie Tejada, General Manager, IBM Developer Ecosystems Group and Chief Developer Advocate, in a joint blog post. "We're asking developers and ecosystem partners to join us in combatting racial injustice by testing, extending and implementing these open source solutions, and contributing their own diverse perspectives and expertise to make them even stronger," they said. The list of solution starters includes: Five Fifths Voter: This web application empowers Black people and other minorities to ensure their voices are heard by exercising their right to vote. It is a virtual one-stop-shop to help determine optimal voting strategies for each individual and limit the impact of previous suppression issues. Legit-info: Local legislation and policies can have significant impact on areas as far-reaching as jobs, the environment and safety. Legit-info helps individuals understand in their own language the legislation that shapes their lives. Incident Accuracy Reporting System : This platform for police incident reporting allows witnesses and victims to corroborate evidence from multiple sources and assess against an official police report. The system creates a more reliable record of all accounts of the incident. Open Sentencing: To help public defenders better serve their clients, Open Sentencing identifies racial bias in data such as demographics that can help make a stronger case. Truth Loop: This app helps communities simply understand the policies, regulations and legislation that will impact them the most. "Each year I'm amazed by how this global community of developers comes together to help solve some of the world's most pressing issues, and this year is no different," said Call for Code creator David Clark, in a statement. "Through the support of UN Human Rights, IBM, The Linux Foundation, the Call for Code ecosystem, world leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and the amazing developers that drive innovation, Call for Code has become the defining tech for good platform the world turns to for results."

From CNET: New technology like instant Wi-Fi networks and body monitoring sensors are helping first responders in the field save lives.

Agrolly, a platform built to help farmers in emerging markets, was chosen as the winner of IBM's 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. Agrolly provides farmers with a bevy of information about weather patterns and crop characteristics, giving them advice on what would be the best thing to plant during certain times of the year. The platform also has ways for farmers to connect with experts as well as ways for them to share information and tools with each other. During the virtual "2020 Call for Code Awards: A Global Celebration of Tech for Good" event, Agrolly was announced as the winner of the annual competition, which brings together the world's brightest minds to create solutions to pertinent problems. This year's task was to develop solutions to problems related to climate change and COVID-19. "Climate change is making it worse for farmers in developing countries and they are losing yield production because of the changes. When you come to emerging markets and you look at these farmers, they don't have the resources, they don't know what to plant, they don't know what the weather will be, and they don't have advantages," said Manoela Morais, CEO of Agrolly.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source. "We want to change the farming industry in the long run by listening to these small farmers in emerging markets, giving them a voice, and empowering them with the latest tech available. We wanted to create an ecosystem where they can contact each other, solve their problems and build a system that is better in the long run for everyone." A panel of judges gave Agrolly and its founders $200,000, tools to test and build out their platform, as well as support from IBM Service Corps and other technical experts. According to IBM, Agrolly will also get help from the Linux Foundation in making its platform open source, which will give developers around the world the chance to help improve it. Since it began in 2018, the Call for Code competition has brought together hundreds of thousands of developers and creators to solve the world's biggest problems, and dozens of unique ideas have been put together through the yearly event. IBM said more than 400,000 developers across 179 nations have participated, taking advantage of IBM tools like Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from the Weather Company. There are already multiple studies showing that climate change is already having a drastic effect on the world's food supply and is leading to reduced crop yields among the top 10 global crops, namely barley, cassava, maize, oil palm, rapeseed, rice, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, and wheat. Agrolly itself uses many of these tools, particularly data from the Weather Company, which provides farmers with daily, weekly, and yearly forecasts so they know what crops to plant at which time of the year. The Agrolly team is made up of researchers, coders, and developers from Brazil, India, Mongolia, and Taiwan who met at Pace University in New York City. Morais told TechRepublic in an interview that she and the team could only start work on the project once they had all finished their final exams. Backed by IBM Cloud Object Storage, IBM Watson Studio, and IBM Watson Assistant, Agrolly was created in the hopes that it would provide struggling farmers with the kind of information they need to make better decisions and improve financially. Ajinkya Datalkar, CTO of Agrolly, explained that the platform gives farmers information that is tailored to their specific location, the kind of crops they want to plant, and the season they want to grow it. Datalkar said he was inspired to help build Agrolly because, in his home country of India, the suicide rate for farmers is becoming higher each year due to the financial crunch many face with a newly uneven climate. The app, he said is currently split into four sections: The forum, the weather, the crop management, and the expert advice. Farmers can speak to one another in the forum, get detailed weather advice from NASA and the Weather Company, receive in-depth information about crops, and call on help from experts. He also noted that the app works on a wide variety of devices. "We kept this in mind while developing this. The farmers may use old cell phones and they may use iPhone 5s, so while developing the app we decided we would also be targeting devices that support Android 4.4, which is pretty much all Androids," Datalkar said. The app is already available in the Google store and is in use in a number of countries. IBM's chief technology officer for Call for Code, Daniel Krook, said the Agrolly team was chosen not just for their innovative idea but because of how they initially came up with it. "What really stands out to me about this particular solution is that I like that from the ground up since May, they have been talking to their end-users. What they created was something based on those conversations in Mongolia and Brazil," Krook said. "They didn't just conceive of a solution to an imaginary problem. I saw that they were deeply involved and worked very closely with their end-users and I think the ecosystem will grow no matter what happens. They really have a great road map, not only of where they've gotten to right now but also where they're thinking of going from a business point of view." Agrolly was one of the five finalists chosen by the Call for Code judges. The other groups involved included OffShip, another potential solution to the effects of climate change, and three other platforms that revolved around efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The second-place prize went to Business Buddy, which will receive $25,000 and the third-place prize went to Safe Queue, which is already being used by stores to create digital replacements for physical lines. SchoolListIt was awarded fourth place and $10,000. "Each year I'm amazed by how this global community of developers comes together to help solve some of the world's most pressing issues, and this year is no different," said Call for Code creator David Clark. "Through the support of UN Human Rights, IBM, the Linux Foundation, the Call for Code ecosystem, world leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and the amazing developers that drive innovation, Call for Code has become the defining tech for good platform the world turns to for results."

2020 Call for Code Awards

Technology can serve any purpose, including the greater good. That inspired entrepreneur David Clark to start an annual competition, the Call for Code Global Challenge. “The basic idea was to create this ‘Justice League’ for good,” he says, “where we would encourage developers around the world to solve social challenges with tech solutions and really create what would be akin to the Nobel Prize for developers.” Co-founded with IBM and in partnership with the UN, the contest offers cash prizes and helps bring promising ideas to market. It issues a different challenge each year. Last year’s competition focused on preparing for natural disasters, which are becoming more common as climate change causes more extreme weather. “The innovations that came out of it quite frankly were amazing and are actually being deployed right now,” Clark says. For example, the winning team was led by a firefighter who lost a friend to smoke inhalation. He created a wearable device that monitors air quality and firefighters’ vital signs. This year, the Call for Code is seeking solutions for two of the world’s most pressing problems: COVID-19 and climate change. So soon, the world may see other winning ideas moving to the front lines. Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media.

NEW YORK (May 28, 2020) – Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Michael Bublé, Jeff Bridges, Jonas Brothers, Carole King, Rod Stewart, Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Pitbull, Pierce Brosnan, Kristen Bell, and more are among the major celebrities joining United Nations Human Rights on May 27, 2020 to launch the Call for Code awareness campaign and advocate for new tech solutions to help people suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. Over fifty of the biggest names in entertainment, sports, and fashion are lending their voice to ignite the Call for Code ‘Cause Flash,’ a global social media campaign to encourage developers and innovators to make a difference and create solutions to help the world’s most vulnerable people. The celebrity coalition has a combined social media reach of over 1 billion followers. Participants also include Aloe Blacc, Andra Day, Austin Mahone, Bazzi, Cara Delevingne, Carlos Vives, Cyndi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Pentatonix, Rev Run, Ricky Martin, Ryan Tedder, Rob Thomas, Rita Wilson, Toby Keith, and Wiz Khalifa, as well as Olympic champions Lindsay Vonn and Laurie Hernandez, actors Nina Dobrev, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, and comedienne Margaret Cho, among many others. Academy Award-winner Jeff Bridges, the first celebrity out the gate to speak out for Call for Code on his popular Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook accounts posted a poignant photo of a frontline health care worker with his message, "Let's fight back against #COVID19 & #ClimateChange. I encourage developers & innovators to make a difference. Join @CallforCode & its partner @UNHumanRights to help create solutions for the world's most vulnerable people. Visit: http://CallforCode.org #TechForGood." Since Lady Gaga made a personal video appeal in March urging ‘tech rock stars’ to commit to the cause, hundreds of thousands of developers from 165 countries have already signed up for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge , which has become the largest tech for social good initiative in history. The top tech innovations to be funded and deployed will be selected by a jury, which includes Former President Bill Clinton, Mark Cuban, American tech entrepreneur and co-host of ABC TV’s “Shark Tank,” Dr. Irwin Redlener, Director of National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Dr. Mickey Chopra, Global Solutions Lead for Service Delivery in the Health Nutrition and Population of the World Bank, Mami Mizutori, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Brian A. Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, and David Miliband, President and CEO of International Rescue Committee. United Nations Human Rights is Global Partner of Call for Code, a multi-year initiative created in 2018 by David Clark, CEO of David Clark Cause, with Founding Partner IBM, and Affiliate Partner The Linux Foundation. In addition to IBM’s initial 5-year $30 million pledge of support Call for Code, and additional $25 million pledged to help deploy the top tech solutions, Call for Code is supported by major corporations including Verizon, Arrow Electronics and Persistent Systems. “We are so grateful for the generous support from these renowned celebrities, our jury, partner organizations, and sponsors, and sincerely thank Lady Gaga for inspiring developers and innovators to answer the call,” said David Clark. “Call for Code would not be possible without United Nation Human Rights, which has helped guide our effort while they continue to work with the 193 member states to address the unfolding human rights crisis posed by Covid-19 and climate change. I also want to extend our utmost gratitude to IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and the entire IBM family for their unparalleled leadership in galvanizing the global tech community. As the most trusted technology partner there is, we’re grateful IBM answered the call to be the Founding Partner of Call for Code.”

The United Nations Human Rights group will launch this year’s Call for Code campaign on May 27th as part of the organization’s annual call for new tech solutions to global issues. The focus of the 2020 campaign will be on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Michael Bublé, Jeff Bridges, the Jonas Brothers, Carole King, Rod Stewart, Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Pitbull, Pierce Brosnan and Kristen Bell are among the announced celebrities joining the campaign on Wednesday. Participants also include Cara Delevingne, Cyndi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Ricky Martin, Rob Thomas, Rita Wilson, Toby Keith and Wiz Khalifa — as well as Olympic champions Lindsay Vonn and Laurie Hernandez; actors Nina Dobrev, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth; and comedian Margaret Cho. Lady Gaga created a personal video for Call for Code back in March, asking the world’s 24 million tech developers to work toward solutions to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Now is the time to fight back against this coronavirus, to use open source technology, to solve problems at scale and to save lives,” she said. “A great technology solution can span the globe and help so many others. I know you know this. I know this is why you do what you do.” Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and entrepreneur Mark Cuban are among those serving on the Call for Code Eminent Jury and will select the winning 2020 solutions that address both COVID-19 and climate change.

Celine Dion, Cher, Michael Bublé and Rod Stewart have teamed up with more than 50 other celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, sports and fashion in support of a climate change and COVID-19 awareness campaign called Call for Code. The initiative is designed to advocate for "new tech solutions to help people suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change." Other music artists participating in the social media awareness campaign include Barbra Streisand, Jonas Brothers, Carole King, OneRepublic, Rob Thomas, Gloria Estefan, Cyndi Lauper, Pentatonix and Jason Mraz. Artists participating are using their socials to share messages like, "Let's fight back against #COVID19 & #ClimateChange. Join @CallforCode & its partner @UNHumanRights to help create solutions for the world's most vulnerable people." Last month, Lady Gaga issued a call to “tech rock stars” on behalf of the cause. Since then, hundreds of thousands of tech innovators and developers from 165 countries have signed up for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. For more info, visit CallforCode.org .

With concerts, sports, movie productions, Broadway shows, and nearly all forms of entertainment currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s celebrities are uniting to ask tech leaders to find solutions.

Last month, the sponsors of this year's Call for Code Global Challenge expanded the scope of the event beyond its original focus on solutions that address the impact of climate change to include solutions that mitigate the impact of global pandemics. Last week, they threw a spotlight on three promising front runners on this new second track with solutions that have the potential to contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The 2020 Challenge also includes a dedicated University Edition through a partnership that began last year with the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). More than 10,000 students participated last year. IBM senior vice president Bob Lord and Chelsea Clinton, chair of the Clinton Foundation, featured the current three top solutions in a video presentation during last week's IBM Think 2020 online conference. "We really do need reasons for optimism right now," Clinton said. "And these are just extraordinary reasons to be optimistic about our resilience and what we can prove to be possible, while still recognizing the deep and painful challenges that we're in." The solutions highlighted during the presentation included: Are you Well? This mobile app was developed by a team from India-based Altran to relieve overtaxed medical systems by helping individuals evaluate their own symptoms before they get to the hospital. The mobile app combines a smart phone with IBM's Watson Assistant and connects to a global dashboard, which then assigns cases high-, medium-, or low-risk levels (based on thresholds set by the healthcare provider), and then connect them with medical professionals. Covid Impact This solution was designed to reduce the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses. Created by a team of University of British Columbia graduates from Canada, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Mexico, CovidImpact combines IBM Watson Tone Analyzer with IBM ILOG CPLEX to provide a predictive assessment that forecasts risk levels for a business and curates personalized programs and tips to reduce oncoming financial threats. It also projects a real-time list of sentiment analysis-parsed news articles relevant to small business owners from all major outlets. Safe Queue Safe Queue, created by Dave Chura, a developer in Los Angeles, is a community-driven mobile app that aims to replace physical lines at shopping centers, small businesses, and polling places with on-demand virtual lines. The idea is to enable a safer way to manage entry during the pandemic. The solution uses GPS location data to create a virtual queue of those within 1,000 feet of a location, which allows employees to control the queue digitally and validate entry with a randomly generated QR code for each customer. This solution builds on IBM Cloud Foundry for Web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. Created by David Clark Cause with Founding Partner IBM, and in partnership with the United Nations Human Rights and The Linux Foundation, Call for Code is among the largest "tech-for-good" challenges of its kind. In 2019, more than 180,000 participants from 165 countries responded to the call, creating more than 5,000 applications focused on natural disaster preparedness and relief, the company says. This year more than 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries signed up for the Challenge. Health insurance provider Anthem became a Challenge supporter this year, committing to jointly deploying one of the top solutions from the COVID challenge track. "After we expanded the focus of this year's competition to include COVID-19, the response has been tremendous," said Dennis Bly, global offering manager for academic developers at IBM, who leads IBM's global university engagement for Call for Code, in an earlier interview "In just under a month, we already have 45,000 participants from 146 countries and growing, who are actively working on solutions to help address the COVID-19 response and climate change." Challenge participants are building applications on open source software provided by IBM, including Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from The Weather Company. The grand prize for this year's Global Call for Code Challenge is $200,000, plus solution implementation through Code and Response and an opportunity for mentorship and investment in the solution. First and second runners up receive $25,000; third and fourth receive $10,000. The University Edition grand prize is $10,000 dispersed equally across the team, and each student team member will have the opportunity to interview for a potential job at IBM. The runners up also get an interview. Submissions are being accepted through July 31st. 

As part of its expanded 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge focusing on COVID-19, IBM on Tuesday announced three initial top efforts from developers. In a blog post, Bob Lord, SVP of cognitive applications, blockchain, and ecosystems, IBM, noted the solutions "have the potential to change the way we react to the pandemic." In March, IBM challenged developers to fight COVID-19 by saying: "Answer the call. Build solutions that fight back." IBM is live streaming the top initial solutions starting at 3 p.m. ET May 5, with Lord joined by Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, introducing the teams at the IBM Think Virtual Conference. Here is IBM's description of the efforts: Safe Queue was created by a single developer in Los Angeles, who was inspired to join Call for Code after seeing Lady Gaga's video about the global challenge on the local news. Safe Queue is an app to help tackle those long lines we've all seen during COVID-19 at shopping centers, small businesses, and even polling places. The app replaces physical lines with on-demand virtual lines, creating a safer way to manage entry during COVID-19. The developer used one of our starter kits–the Call for Code Community Cooperation starter kit–to create this solution, as well as IBM Cloud Foundry for web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. CovidImpact is a solution to help small businesses during this uncertain time. It was created by a global team that came together at the University of British Columbia, hailing from Canada, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Mexico. Their solution reduces the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses, by keeping them updated on the latest relevant news and available grants. CovidImpact uses IBM Watson Tone Analyzer linguistic analysis and other technologies to help forecast businesses' financial risk. Are You Well? was created by a team from Altran in India and will help reduce the strain on busy healthcare systems. The app helps people evaluate their symptoms, with the help of IBM Watson Assistant. A global dashboard assigns cases a high, medium, or low level of risk based on thresholds set by healthcare providers. The solution then connects people with medical professionals who use the data to prioritize cases and offer care in a safer manner. In his blog post, Lord wrote, "We are excited to work quickly in partnership with the Linux Foundation, Anthem, and these teams to get their innovations deployed in communities where they're needed most to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19." The company put out its 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge in February, with the United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation to tackle climate change. In March, IBM expanded the challenge, noting: "In a very short period of time, COVID-19 has brought modern life to a screeching halt, disrupting our healthcare, education, and economic systems. But we can fight back–with technology." IBM is accepting submissions for both climate change and COVID-19 through July 31, and plans to announce the global challenge winners in October. The company said it is offering participants exclusive access to a new disease tracker API from The Weather Company. Since 2018, IBM said, this movement has grown to over 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries who have answered the call. Last year's winning team, Prometeo, created a wearable device that measures carbon monoxide, smoke concentration, humidity, and temperature to monitor firefighter safety in real time as well as to help improve their health outcomes in the long term. The company said through Code and Response, it brings open source solutions to life through real-world deployments to help first responders in their efforts to save lives. In the past 18 months, this has included deployments of Project Owl and DroneAid in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, and Prometeo in areas of Spain prone to wildfires, IBM said. In his post, Lord wrote: "Medical professionals, first responders, and essential workers are rising to the challenges we're faced with today and are leading the way. IBM and David Clark Cause have led a broad ecosystem including the Linux Foundation, UNHR, Verizon, Persistent Systems, Arrow Electronics, Ingram Micro, Cognizant, ICBC, Altran, and celebrities to do our part. President Bill Clinton announced our partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative University for the second year, with a dedicated University Edition within Call for Code." "Even Lady Gaga recognized the scope and urgency of the issues we're facing and urged "tech rock stars" to lend their time and talent to the cause," he added. "In fact, the developer who created Safe Queue joined Call for Code after seeing her shout-out on a local broadcast." 

Last month, IBM expanded this year’s Call for Code Global Challenge from climate change to help develop solutions for COVID-19, and on Tuesday, IBM announced three initial top solutions that have the potential to make a real difference in the world and contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The solutions have come from teams around the world and they address issues like helping small businesses, keeping people safe when they need to go to public places, and people’s well-being. Call for Code is more than a hackathon. The winning solutions are successfully developed, field-tested and deployed in communities that need them most. Our goal is to work quickly to partner with three teams to get their innovations out in the field where they can quickly make an impact. We’ve seen overwhelming enthusiasm pour in from the developer community. Word about Call for Code is spreading, too – you may have even seen the video of Lady Gaga encouraging developers, technologists and problem solvers around the world to take on COVID-19 by building innovative technology solutions. In fact, one of the developers whose solution was chosen as a top submission joined the Challenge after seeing the Lady Gaga video on a local broadcast. IBM launched the Call for Code Global Challenge to take on society’s most pressing issues. Since 2018, this movement has grown to over 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries who have answered the call. On Tuesday, IBM announced three initial top solutions that have the potential to make a real difference in the world and contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The three top solutions announced Tuesday: -Safe Queue was created by a single developer in Los Angeles, who was inspired to join Call for Code after seeing Lady Gaga’s video about the global challenge on the local news. Safe Queue is an app to help tackle those long lines we’ve all seen during COVID-19 at shopping centers, small businesses and even polling places. The app replaces physical lines with on-demand virtual lines, creating a safer way to manage entry during COVID-19. The developer used one of our starter kits – the Call for Code Community Cooperation starter kit – to create this solution, as well as IBM Cloud Foundry for web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. -COVID Impact is a solution to help small businesses during this uncertain time. It was created by a global team that came together at the University of British Columbia, hailing from Canada, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Mexico. Their solution reduces the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses, by keeping them updated on the latest relevant news and available grants. COVID Impact uses IBM Watson Tone Analyzer linguistic analysis and other technologies to help forecasts businesses’ financial risk. -The "Are You Well?" app, created by a team from Altran in India, will help reduce the strain on busy healthcare systems. Their app helps people evaluate their symptoms, with the help of IBM Watson Assistant. A global dashboard assigns cases a high, medium or low level of risk based on thresholds set by healthcare providers. The solution then connects people with medical professionals who use the data to prioritize cases and offer care in a safer manner. "The response for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge has been tremendous," said Bob Lord, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Applications at IBM. There is still an opportunity to join the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. Register and get all the resources you need here, including exclusive access to a new disease tracker API from The Weather Company. We’ll continue to accept submissions for both climate change and COVID-19 through July 31, and plan to announce our global challenge winners in October. 

Lady Gaga has called for the world’s 24 million tech developers to work toward solutions to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Lady Gaga is calling on tech developers to come together and build a solution to shut down COVID-19.

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 .

The theme of the recently announced 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge has been expanded to include the growing threat of Coronavirus pandemic. Set up as a five-year, $30 million global initiative, Call for Code was launched two years ago by the David Clark Cause in partnership with IBM, as well as United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation. Its stated aim is to encourage developers to use their skills and mastery of the latest technologies, and to create new ones, to develop practical open source applications that will drive positive and long-lasting change across the world. The 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge was initially focused on fighting climate change, which the organisers categorised as “the single most pressing issue facing the world today”. That was just three weeks ago. Announcing the expanded theme at the weekend, the Call for Code organisers stated: “In a brief period, much has changed. COVID-19 has spread across the world with unprecedented effect and now has the potential to become the greatest crisis of modern times. 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.” They have made tools available to assist developers to build open source technology solutions that address three main COVID-19 areas: 1. Crisis communication During an emergency because, communications systems are among the first to become overwhelmed, yet they play a critical role in helping communities understand everything they need to know as quickly as possible. 2. Remote education Ways are needed to improve remote learning because, with self-isolation, children are being stuck indoors for long periods and need to be kept engaged, entertained and on top of their education. 3. Community cooperation Self-isolation and the challenges this brings require an understanding not only of what is happening in one’s community, but also how individuals can help others. Technology can be used to promote, inspire and facilitate cooperative communities. “Together, we have the power to use the latest technology in ways that make an immediate and lasting humanitarian impact in local communities and across the globe. Thank you for answering the call in this unprecedented time in our history,” IBM said in a statement. Submissions opened on March 22nd and close on July 31st, 2020. Winners will receive $200,000 in cash.

FORBES / By Simon Mainwaring While many companies promote social good initiatives, not all programs are strategically sound or measurably impactful. And while there is no easy […] The post Purpose At Work: How IBM Partners With Developers To Scale Impact appeared first on David Clark Cause.

The winning solution, Prometeo, will be deployed through a companion IBM program that is dedicated to tackling some of society’s most pressing challenges.

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT By Jennifer Drysdale‍ 1:29 PM PDT, June 6, 2019 Jessica Biel, Cher, Sting, Pitbull and more celebs are using their star power for good. […] The post Jessica Biel, Cher and More Stars Take the Call for Code Global Challenge on World Environment Day appeared first on David Clark Cause.

Céline Dion, The Jonas Brothers, Robin Thicke, Monica, Little Big Town, Olympic Champions Laurie Hernandez and Apolo Ohno as well as many other social advocates back […] The post Céline Dion, The Jonas Brothers, Robin Thicke, Olympic Champions Laurie Hernandez and Apolo Ohno back Call for Code 2019 Global Challenge appeared first on Cause Flash.

Entertainment Tonight / By Zach Seemayer‍ Some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports are lending their star power to a good cause. In recognition of […] The post Jonas Brothers, Celine Dion, Robin Thicke & More Stars Support World Health Day (Exclusive) appeared first on David Clark Cause.

The intersection of tech, humanitarian aid and celebrity voices combine in this unique initiative A Global Code Challenge to help mitigate suffering caused by natural disasters.

People Magazine / Jason Hahn The world witnessed a slew of natural disasters over the course of 2018.

On World Humanitarian Day, Celebrities that include Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Bieber, Trevor Noah, Pierce Brosnan, Kesha, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Joe Jonas, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood, Marcia […] The post Call for Code campaign tops Social Voice of 920 Million People in support of Natural Disaster Preparedness & Relief appeared first on David Clark Cause.

World Humanitarian Day - Justin Bieber, Pierce Brosnan, Trevor Noah, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Cody Simpson, Logan Henderson, Cyndi Lauper, Marcia Gay Harden, Kesha, Pentatonix and many others to lend their social voices to support United Nations Human Rights, the American Red Cross and First Responders give back in a special way.

The goal of Call For Code is to develop technology solutions that significantly improve disaster preparedness and benefit the initiative’s charitable partners: the United Nations Human […] The post Join Forces Against Natural Disasters with the Call for Code appeared first on David Clark Cause.

IBM is committing $30 million over five years to a global initiative aimed at addressing social challenges.

IBM is holding a competition to decide which team will come up with the best solution for natural disaster relief, with David Clark Cause.

IBM is calling on the global public and private sectors, including the United Nations and the Linux Foundation, to unite in finding ways of using advanced technology as a means of combating natural disasters as well as humanitarian issues. Partnered with David Clark Cause.

Call for Code, the global developer initiative founded in 2018 by social impact entrepreneur David Clark, today announced the launch of Call for Code AI — expanding its mission into the era of AI-native systems and responsible, real-world AI deployment.

Winning teams from multiple universities in Kenya, SBA Info Solutions, and Unisys developed AI-powered solutions to address social and humanitarian issues to make a real difference

In its eighth year, Call for Code presents a series of SDG-focused hackathons throughout the year, kicking off with a competition to build AI agents

Winning teams from Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Persistent, and independent consultants developed AI-powered solutions to help improve equitable access to essential resources and opportunities

Now in its seventh year, Call for Code challenges developers and university students worldwide to build AI-powered solutions to help historically underserved and vulnerable people access essential needs

Today, Call for Code Creator, David Clark Cause, Founding Partner IBM, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and Program Affiliate the Linux Foundation announced the winners of the sixth annual Call for Code Global Challenge.

The 2023 Call for Code Global Challenge, an annual initiative that encourages developers to create projects that combat climate change with AI-powered technology, officially kicked off this week.

Entering its sixth year, Call for Code introduces multiple challenges for global community of developers and students, and launches new initiative for startups and ISVs

A team of four Augustana University students has been named the grand prize winner in a global coding competition.

Call for Code founding partner IBM (NYSE: IBM), creator, David Clark Cause, charitable partner United Nations Human Rights, and program affiliate, the Linux Foundation announced the winner of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge

Organizers of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge have launched their annual invitation to software developers from around the world to create open-source solutions that accelerate sustainability and combat climate change.

David Clark Cause, IBM, United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation today officially launched the 2022 Call For Code.

David Clark Cause, IBM, United Nations Human Rights, the Linux Foundation and more to support Call for Code developers from 180 nations with open source-powered hybrid cloud and AI solutions

Created to combat water quality-related deaths, the Saaf Water sensor and analytics platform for rural localities wins 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge

With the backing of the Clinton Global Initiative, the partners are calling on the open-source community to help the Caribbean island implement economically friendly EEW systems.

Carole King, Rod Stewart, Melissa Etheridge, Sia, Kesha also join call for developers to create solutions to climate change issues

Together with Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation, IBM today announced the launch of the 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge.

The tech company and “GMA” sponsor is creating a better world by using big ideas and breakthrough technology to improve lives.

The 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge, an initiative to combat climate change with open-source-powered technology, is officially underway.

When IBM and the organizers of the Call for Code Global Challenge announced the grand prize winner last week of its third annual international tech-for-good competition, they also unveiled a new Call for Code initiative: Call for Code for Racial Justice, which IBM is describing as "a vital initiative that brings together technology and a powerful ecosystem to combat one of the greatest challenges of our time: racial injustice." Just as the original Call for Code Challenge urged developers around the world to use their skills to address climate change, and then both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Call for Code for Racial Justice expands the admonition further, calling on the international community of hundreds of thousands of developers to contribute to solutions to confront racial inequalities. Call for Code for Racial Justice encourages the adoption and innovation of open source projects to drive progress in three key areas: Police and Judicial Reform and Accountability; Diverse Representation; and Policy and Legislation Reform. The new initiative emerged from an internal IBM program called the Call for Code Emb(race) Challenge. It was started by Black IBMers who, along with Red Hatters and IBM allies, applied their ingenuity and expertise to design and develop technology solutions to address the problem of systemic racism. These solutions are now being opened up to the world as open source projects through the Call for Code tech-for-good platform. The organizers are partnering with a number of organizations, including: Black Girls Code, Collab Capital, Dream Corps, The United Way Worldwide, American Airlines, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and Red Hat. "Black Girls Code was created to introduce programming and technology to a new generation of coders," said Anesha Grant, director of alumnae and educational programs at Black Girls Code, in a statement, "and we believe that a new generation of coders will shape our futures. We're excited to participate in Call for Code for Racial Justice and to spark meaningful change." The Call for Code for Racial Justice launched officially this week at the virtual All Things Open. The IBM Call for Code for Racial Justice team kicked off the competition by contributing "solution starters" to the open source community. These projects were built using technologies such as Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, Blockchain ledger, Node.js, Vu.js, Docker, Kubernetes and Tekton, said Evaristus Mainsah, General Manager, IBM Hybrid Cloud and Edge Ecosystem and co-chair of IBM's Black Executive Council, and Willie Tejada, General Manager, IBM Developer Ecosystems Group and Chief Developer Advocate, in a joint blog post. "We're asking developers and ecosystem partners to join us in combatting racial injustice by testing, extending and implementing these open source solutions, and contributing their own diverse perspectives and expertise to make them even stronger," they said. The list of solution starters includes: Five Fifths Voter: This web application empowers Black people and other minorities to ensure their voices are heard by exercising their right to vote. It is a virtual one-stop-shop to help determine optimal voting strategies for each individual and limit the impact of previous suppression issues. Legit-info: Local legislation and policies can have significant impact on areas as far-reaching as jobs, the environment and safety. Legit-info helps individuals understand in their own language the legislation that shapes their lives. Incident Accuracy Reporting System : This platform for police incident reporting allows witnesses and victims to corroborate evidence from multiple sources and assess against an official police report. The system creates a more reliable record of all accounts of the incident. Open Sentencing: To help public defenders better serve their clients, Open Sentencing identifies racial bias in data such as demographics that can help make a stronger case. Truth Loop: This app helps communities simply understand the policies, regulations and legislation that will impact them the most. "Each year I'm amazed by how this global community of developers comes together to help solve some of the world's most pressing issues, and this year is no different," said Call for Code creator David Clark, in a statement. "Through the support of UN Human Rights, IBM, The Linux Foundation, the Call for Code ecosystem, world leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and the amazing developers that drive innovation, Call for Code has become the defining tech for good platform the world turns to for results."

From CNET: New technology like instant Wi-Fi networks and body monitoring sensors are helping first responders in the field save lives.

Agrolly, a platform built to help farmers in emerging markets, was chosen as the winner of IBM's 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. Agrolly provides farmers with a bevy of information about weather patterns and crop characteristics, giving them advice on what would be the best thing to plant during certain times of the year. The platform also has ways for farmers to connect with experts as well as ways for them to share information and tools with each other. During the virtual "2020 Call for Code Awards: A Global Celebration of Tech for Good" event, Agrolly was announced as the winner of the annual competition, which brings together the world's brightest minds to create solutions to pertinent problems. This year's task was to develop solutions to problems related to climate change and COVID-19. "Climate change is making it worse for farmers in developing countries and they are losing yield production because of the changes. When you come to emerging markets and you look at these farmers, they don't have the resources, they don't know what to plant, they don't know what the weather will be, and they don't have advantages," said Manoela Morais, CEO of Agrolly.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source. "We want to change the farming industry in the long run by listening to these small farmers in emerging markets, giving them a voice, and empowering them with the latest tech available. We wanted to create an ecosystem where they can contact each other, solve their problems and build a system that is better in the long run for everyone." A panel of judges gave Agrolly and its founders $200,000, tools to test and build out their platform, as well as support from IBM Service Corps and other technical experts. According to IBM, Agrolly will also get help from the Linux Foundation in making its platform open source, which will give developers around the world the chance to help improve it. Since it began in 2018, the Call for Code competition has brought together hundreds of thousands of developers and creators to solve the world's biggest problems, and dozens of unique ideas have been put together through the yearly event. IBM said more than 400,000 developers across 179 nations have participated, taking advantage of IBM tools like Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from the Weather Company. There are already multiple studies showing that climate change is already having a drastic effect on the world's food supply and is leading to reduced crop yields among the top 10 global crops, namely barley, cassava, maize, oil palm, rapeseed, rice, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, and wheat. Agrolly itself uses many of these tools, particularly data from the Weather Company, which provides farmers with daily, weekly, and yearly forecasts so they know what crops to plant at which time of the year. The Agrolly team is made up of researchers, coders, and developers from Brazil, India, Mongolia, and Taiwan who met at Pace University in New York City. Morais told TechRepublic in an interview that she and the team could only start work on the project once they had all finished their final exams. Backed by IBM Cloud Object Storage, IBM Watson Studio, and IBM Watson Assistant, Agrolly was created in the hopes that it would provide struggling farmers with the kind of information they need to make better decisions and improve financially. Ajinkya Datalkar, CTO of Agrolly, explained that the platform gives farmers information that is tailored to their specific location, the kind of crops they want to plant, and the season they want to grow it. Datalkar said he was inspired to help build Agrolly because, in his home country of India, the suicide rate for farmers is becoming higher each year due to the financial crunch many face with a newly uneven climate. The app, he said is currently split into four sections: The forum, the weather, the crop management, and the expert advice. Farmers can speak to one another in the forum, get detailed weather advice from NASA and the Weather Company, receive in-depth information about crops, and call on help from experts. He also noted that the app works on a wide variety of devices. "We kept this in mind while developing this. The farmers may use old cell phones and they may use iPhone 5s, so while developing the app we decided we would also be targeting devices that support Android 4.4, which is pretty much all Androids," Datalkar said. The app is already available in the Google store and is in use in a number of countries. IBM's chief technology officer for Call for Code, Daniel Krook, said the Agrolly team was chosen not just for their innovative idea but because of how they initially came up with it. "What really stands out to me about this particular solution is that I like that from the ground up since May, they have been talking to their end-users. What they created was something based on those conversations in Mongolia and Brazil," Krook said. "They didn't just conceive of a solution to an imaginary problem. I saw that they were deeply involved and worked very closely with their end-users and I think the ecosystem will grow no matter what happens. They really have a great road map, not only of where they've gotten to right now but also where they're thinking of going from a business point of view." Agrolly was one of the five finalists chosen by the Call for Code judges. The other groups involved included OffShip, another potential solution to the effects of climate change, and three other platforms that revolved around efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The second-place prize went to Business Buddy, which will receive $25,000 and the third-place prize went to Safe Queue, which is already being used by stores to create digital replacements for physical lines. SchoolListIt was awarded fourth place and $10,000. "Each year I'm amazed by how this global community of developers comes together to help solve some of the world's most pressing issues, and this year is no different," said Call for Code creator David Clark. "Through the support of UN Human Rights, IBM, the Linux Foundation, the Call for Code ecosystem, world leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and the amazing developers that drive innovation, Call for Code has become the defining tech for good platform the world turns to for results."

2020 Call for Code Awards

Technology can serve any purpose, including the greater good. That inspired entrepreneur David Clark to start an annual competition, the Call for Code Global Challenge. “The basic idea was to create this ‘Justice League’ for good,” he says, “where we would encourage developers around the world to solve social challenges with tech solutions and really create what would be akin to the Nobel Prize for developers.” Co-founded with IBM and in partnership with the UN, the contest offers cash prizes and helps bring promising ideas to market. It issues a different challenge each year. Last year’s competition focused on preparing for natural disasters, which are becoming more common as climate change causes more extreme weather. “The innovations that came out of it quite frankly were amazing and are actually being deployed right now,” Clark says. For example, the winning team was led by a firefighter who lost a friend to smoke inhalation. He created a wearable device that monitors air quality and firefighters’ vital signs. This year, the Call for Code is seeking solutions for two of the world’s most pressing problems: COVID-19 and climate change. So soon, the world may see other winning ideas moving to the front lines. Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media.

NEW YORK (May 28, 2020) – Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Michael Bublé, Jeff Bridges, Jonas Brothers, Carole King, Rod Stewart, Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Pitbull, Pierce Brosnan, Kristen Bell, and more are among the major celebrities joining United Nations Human Rights on May 27, 2020 to launch the Call for Code awareness campaign and advocate for new tech solutions to help people suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. Over fifty of the biggest names in entertainment, sports, and fashion are lending their voice to ignite the Call for Code ‘Cause Flash,’ a global social media campaign to encourage developers and innovators to make a difference and create solutions to help the world’s most vulnerable people. The celebrity coalition has a combined social media reach of over 1 billion followers. Participants also include Aloe Blacc, Andra Day, Austin Mahone, Bazzi, Cara Delevingne, Carlos Vives, Cyndi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Pentatonix, Rev Run, Ricky Martin, Ryan Tedder, Rob Thomas, Rita Wilson, Toby Keith, and Wiz Khalifa, as well as Olympic champions Lindsay Vonn and Laurie Hernandez, actors Nina Dobrev, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, and comedienne Margaret Cho, among many others. Academy Award-winner Jeff Bridges, the first celebrity out the gate to speak out for Call for Code on his popular Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook accounts posted a poignant photo of a frontline health care worker with his message, "Let's fight back against #COVID19 & #ClimateChange. I encourage developers & innovators to make a difference. Join @CallforCode & its partner @UNHumanRights to help create solutions for the world's most vulnerable people. Visit: http://CallforCode.org #TechForGood." Since Lady Gaga made a personal video appeal in March urging ‘tech rock stars’ to commit to the cause, hundreds of thousands of developers from 165 countries have already signed up for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge , which has become the largest tech for social good initiative in history. The top tech innovations to be funded and deployed will be selected by a jury, which includes Former President Bill Clinton, Mark Cuban, American tech entrepreneur and co-host of ABC TV’s “Shark Tank,” Dr. Irwin Redlener, Director of National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Dr. Mickey Chopra, Global Solutions Lead for Service Delivery in the Health Nutrition and Population of the World Bank, Mami Mizutori, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Brian A. Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, and David Miliband, President and CEO of International Rescue Committee. United Nations Human Rights is Global Partner of Call for Code, a multi-year initiative created in 2018 by David Clark, CEO of David Clark Cause, with Founding Partner IBM, and Affiliate Partner The Linux Foundation. In addition to IBM’s initial 5-year $30 million pledge of support Call for Code, and additional $25 million pledged to help deploy the top tech solutions, Call for Code is supported by major corporations including Verizon, Arrow Electronics and Persistent Systems. “We are so grateful for the generous support from these renowned celebrities, our jury, partner organizations, and sponsors, and sincerely thank Lady Gaga for inspiring developers and innovators to answer the call,” said David Clark. “Call for Code would not be possible without United Nation Human Rights, which has helped guide our effort while they continue to work with the 193 member states to address the unfolding human rights crisis posed by Covid-19 and climate change. I also want to extend our utmost gratitude to IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and the entire IBM family for their unparalleled leadership in galvanizing the global tech community. As the most trusted technology partner there is, we’re grateful IBM answered the call to be the Founding Partner of Call for Code.”

The United Nations Human Rights group will launch this year’s Call for Code campaign on May 27th as part of the organization’s annual call for new tech solutions to global issues. The focus of the 2020 campaign will be on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Michael Bublé, Jeff Bridges, the Jonas Brothers, Carole King, Rod Stewart, Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Pitbull, Pierce Brosnan and Kristen Bell are among the announced celebrities joining the campaign on Wednesday. Participants also include Cara Delevingne, Cyndi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Ricky Martin, Rob Thomas, Rita Wilson, Toby Keith and Wiz Khalifa — as well as Olympic champions Lindsay Vonn and Laurie Hernandez; actors Nina Dobrev, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth; and comedian Margaret Cho. Lady Gaga created a personal video for Call for Code back in March, asking the world’s 24 million tech developers to work toward solutions to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Now is the time to fight back against this coronavirus, to use open source technology, to solve problems at scale and to save lives,” she said. “A great technology solution can span the globe and help so many others. I know you know this. I know this is why you do what you do.” Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and entrepreneur Mark Cuban are among those serving on the Call for Code Eminent Jury and will select the winning 2020 solutions that address both COVID-19 and climate change.

Celine Dion, Cher, Michael Bublé and Rod Stewart have teamed up with more than 50 other celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, sports and fashion in support of a climate change and COVID-19 awareness campaign called Call for Code. The initiative is designed to advocate for "new tech solutions to help people suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change." Other music artists participating in the social media awareness campaign include Barbra Streisand, Jonas Brothers, Carole King, OneRepublic, Rob Thomas, Gloria Estefan, Cyndi Lauper, Pentatonix and Jason Mraz. Artists participating are using their socials to share messages like, "Let's fight back against #COVID19 & #ClimateChange. Join @CallforCode & its partner @UNHumanRights to help create solutions for the world's most vulnerable people." Last month, Lady Gaga issued a call to “tech rock stars” on behalf of the cause. Since then, hundreds of thousands of tech innovators and developers from 165 countries have signed up for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. For more info, visit CallforCode.org .

With concerts, sports, movie productions, Broadway shows, and nearly all forms of entertainment currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s celebrities are uniting to ask tech leaders to find solutions.

Last month, the sponsors of this year's Call for Code Global Challenge expanded the scope of the event beyond its original focus on solutions that address the impact of climate change to include solutions that mitigate the impact of global pandemics. Last week, they threw a spotlight on three promising front runners on this new second track with solutions that have the potential to contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The 2020 Challenge also includes a dedicated University Edition through a partnership that began last year with the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). More than 10,000 students participated last year. IBM senior vice president Bob Lord and Chelsea Clinton, chair of the Clinton Foundation, featured the current three top solutions in a video presentation during last week's IBM Think 2020 online conference. "We really do need reasons for optimism right now," Clinton said. "And these are just extraordinary reasons to be optimistic about our resilience and what we can prove to be possible, while still recognizing the deep and painful challenges that we're in." The solutions highlighted during the presentation included: Are you Well? This mobile app was developed by a team from India-based Altran to relieve overtaxed medical systems by helping individuals evaluate their own symptoms before they get to the hospital. The mobile app combines a smart phone with IBM's Watson Assistant and connects to a global dashboard, which then assigns cases high-, medium-, or low-risk levels (based on thresholds set by the healthcare provider), and then connect them with medical professionals. Covid Impact This solution was designed to reduce the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses. Created by a team of University of British Columbia graduates from Canada, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Mexico, CovidImpact combines IBM Watson Tone Analyzer with IBM ILOG CPLEX to provide a predictive assessment that forecasts risk levels for a business and curates personalized programs and tips to reduce oncoming financial threats. It also projects a real-time list of sentiment analysis-parsed news articles relevant to small business owners from all major outlets. Safe Queue Safe Queue, created by Dave Chura, a developer in Los Angeles, is a community-driven mobile app that aims to replace physical lines at shopping centers, small businesses, and polling places with on-demand virtual lines. The idea is to enable a safer way to manage entry during the pandemic. The solution uses GPS location data to create a virtual queue of those within 1,000 feet of a location, which allows employees to control the queue digitally and validate entry with a randomly generated QR code for each customer. This solution builds on IBM Cloud Foundry for Web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. Created by David Clark Cause with Founding Partner IBM, and in partnership with the United Nations Human Rights and The Linux Foundation, Call for Code is among the largest "tech-for-good" challenges of its kind. In 2019, more than 180,000 participants from 165 countries responded to the call, creating more than 5,000 applications focused on natural disaster preparedness and relief, the company says. This year more than 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries signed up for the Challenge. Health insurance provider Anthem became a Challenge supporter this year, committing to jointly deploying one of the top solutions from the COVID challenge track. "After we expanded the focus of this year's competition to include COVID-19, the response has been tremendous," said Dennis Bly, global offering manager for academic developers at IBM, who leads IBM's global university engagement for Call for Code, in an earlier interview "In just under a month, we already have 45,000 participants from 146 countries and growing, who are actively working on solutions to help address the COVID-19 response and climate change." Challenge participants are building applications on open source software provided by IBM, including Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from The Weather Company. The grand prize for this year's Global Call for Code Challenge is $200,000, plus solution implementation through Code and Response and an opportunity for mentorship and investment in the solution. First and second runners up receive $25,000; third and fourth receive $10,000. The University Edition grand prize is $10,000 dispersed equally across the team, and each student team member will have the opportunity to interview for a potential job at IBM. The runners up also get an interview. Submissions are being accepted through July 31st. 

As part of its expanded 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge focusing on COVID-19, IBM on Tuesday announced three initial top efforts from developers. In a blog post, Bob Lord, SVP of cognitive applications, blockchain, and ecosystems, IBM, noted the solutions "have the potential to change the way we react to the pandemic." In March, IBM challenged developers to fight COVID-19 by saying: "Answer the call. Build solutions that fight back." IBM is live streaming the top initial solutions starting at 3 p.m. ET May 5, with Lord joined by Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, introducing the teams at the IBM Think Virtual Conference. Here is IBM's description of the efforts: Safe Queue was created by a single developer in Los Angeles, who was inspired to join Call for Code after seeing Lady Gaga's video about the global challenge on the local news. Safe Queue is an app to help tackle those long lines we've all seen during COVID-19 at shopping centers, small businesses, and even polling places. The app replaces physical lines with on-demand virtual lines, creating a safer way to manage entry during COVID-19. The developer used one of our starter kits–the Call for Code Community Cooperation starter kit–to create this solution, as well as IBM Cloud Foundry for web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. CovidImpact is a solution to help small businesses during this uncertain time. It was created by a global team that came together at the University of British Columbia, hailing from Canada, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Mexico. Their solution reduces the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses, by keeping them updated on the latest relevant news and available grants. CovidImpact uses IBM Watson Tone Analyzer linguistic analysis and other technologies to help forecast businesses' financial risk. Are You Well? was created by a team from Altran in India and will help reduce the strain on busy healthcare systems. The app helps people evaluate their symptoms, with the help of IBM Watson Assistant. A global dashboard assigns cases a high, medium, or low level of risk based on thresholds set by healthcare providers. The solution then connects people with medical professionals who use the data to prioritize cases and offer care in a safer manner. In his blog post, Lord wrote, "We are excited to work quickly in partnership with the Linux Foundation, Anthem, and these teams to get their innovations deployed in communities where they're needed most to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19." The company put out its 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge in February, with the United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation to tackle climate change. In March, IBM expanded the challenge, noting: "In a very short period of time, COVID-19 has brought modern life to a screeching halt, disrupting our healthcare, education, and economic systems. But we can fight back–with technology." IBM is accepting submissions for both climate change and COVID-19 through July 31, and plans to announce the global challenge winners in October. The company said it is offering participants exclusive access to a new disease tracker API from The Weather Company. Since 2018, IBM said, this movement has grown to over 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries who have answered the call. Last year's winning team, Prometeo, created a wearable device that measures carbon monoxide, smoke concentration, humidity, and temperature to monitor firefighter safety in real time as well as to help improve their health outcomes in the long term. The company said through Code and Response, it brings open source solutions to life through real-world deployments to help first responders in their efforts to save lives. In the past 18 months, this has included deployments of Project Owl and DroneAid in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, and Prometeo in areas of Spain prone to wildfires, IBM said. In his post, Lord wrote: "Medical professionals, first responders, and essential workers are rising to the challenges we're faced with today and are leading the way. IBM and David Clark Cause have led a broad ecosystem including the Linux Foundation, UNHR, Verizon, Persistent Systems, Arrow Electronics, Ingram Micro, Cognizant, ICBC, Altran, and celebrities to do our part. President Bill Clinton announced our partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative University for the second year, with a dedicated University Edition within Call for Code." "Even Lady Gaga recognized the scope and urgency of the issues we're facing and urged "tech rock stars" to lend their time and talent to the cause," he added. "In fact, the developer who created Safe Queue joined Call for Code after seeing her shout-out on a local broadcast." 

Last month, IBM expanded this year’s Call for Code Global Challenge from climate change to help develop solutions for COVID-19, and on Tuesday, IBM announced three initial top solutions that have the potential to make a real difference in the world and contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The solutions have come from teams around the world and they address issues like helping small businesses, keeping people safe when they need to go to public places, and people’s well-being. Call for Code is more than a hackathon. The winning solutions are successfully developed, field-tested and deployed in communities that need them most. Our goal is to work quickly to partner with three teams to get their innovations out in the field where they can quickly make an impact. We’ve seen overwhelming enthusiasm pour in from the developer community. Word about Call for Code is spreading, too – you may have even seen the video of Lady Gaga encouraging developers, technologists and problem solvers around the world to take on COVID-19 by building innovative technology solutions. In fact, one of the developers whose solution was chosen as a top submission joined the Challenge after seeing the Lady Gaga video on a local broadcast. IBM launched the Call for Code Global Challenge to take on society’s most pressing issues. Since 2018, this movement has grown to over 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries who have answered the call. On Tuesday, IBM announced three initial top solutions that have the potential to make a real difference in the world and contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The three top solutions announced Tuesday: -Safe Queue was created by a single developer in Los Angeles, who was inspired to join Call for Code after seeing Lady Gaga’s video about the global challenge on the local news. Safe Queue is an app to help tackle those long lines we’ve all seen during COVID-19 at shopping centers, small businesses and even polling places. The app replaces physical lines with on-demand virtual lines, creating a safer way to manage entry during COVID-19. The developer used one of our starter kits – the Call for Code Community Cooperation starter kit – to create this solution, as well as IBM Cloud Foundry for web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. -COVID Impact is a solution to help small businesses during this uncertain time. It was created by a global team that came together at the University of British Columbia, hailing from Canada, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Mexico. Their solution reduces the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses, by keeping them updated on the latest relevant news and available grants. COVID Impact uses IBM Watson Tone Analyzer linguistic analysis and other technologies to help forecasts businesses’ financial risk. -The "Are You Well?" app, created by a team from Altran in India, will help reduce the strain on busy healthcare systems. Their app helps people evaluate their symptoms, with the help of IBM Watson Assistant. A global dashboard assigns cases a high, medium or low level of risk based on thresholds set by healthcare providers. The solution then connects people with medical professionals who use the data to prioritize cases and offer care in a safer manner. "The response for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge has been tremendous," said Bob Lord, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Applications at IBM. There is still an opportunity to join the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. Register and get all the resources you need here, including exclusive access to a new disease tracker API from The Weather Company. We’ll continue to accept submissions for both climate change and COVID-19 through July 31, and plan to announce our global challenge winners in October. 

Lady Gaga has called for the world’s 24 million tech developers to work toward solutions to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Lady Gaga is calling on tech developers to come together and build a solution to shut down COVID-19.

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 .

The theme of the recently announced 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge has been expanded to include the growing threat of Coronavirus pandemic. Set up as a five-year, $30 million global initiative, Call for Code was launched two years ago by the David Clark Cause in partnership with IBM, as well as United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation. Its stated aim is to encourage developers to use their skills and mastery of the latest technologies, and to create new ones, to develop practical open source applications that will drive positive and long-lasting change across the world. The 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge was initially focused on fighting climate change, which the organisers categorised as “the single most pressing issue facing the world today”. That was just three weeks ago. Announcing the expanded theme at the weekend, the Call for Code organisers stated: “In a brief period, much has changed. COVID-19 has spread across the world with unprecedented effect and now has the potential to become the greatest crisis of modern times. 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.” They have made tools available to assist developers to build open source technology solutions that address three main COVID-19 areas: 1. Crisis communication During an emergency because, communications systems are among the first to become overwhelmed, yet they play a critical role in helping communities understand everything they need to know as quickly as possible. 2. Remote education Ways are needed to improve remote learning because, with self-isolation, children are being stuck indoors for long periods and need to be kept engaged, entertained and on top of their education. 3. Community cooperation Self-isolation and the challenges this brings require an understanding not only of what is happening in one’s community, but also how individuals can help others. Technology can be used to promote, inspire and facilitate cooperative communities. “Together, we have the power to use the latest technology in ways that make an immediate and lasting humanitarian impact in local communities and across the globe. Thank you for answering the call in this unprecedented time in our history,” IBM said in a statement. Submissions opened on March 22nd and close on July 31st, 2020. Winners will receive $200,000 in cash.

FORBES / By Simon Mainwaring While many companies promote social good initiatives, not all programs are strategically sound or measurably impactful. And while there is no easy […] The post Purpose At Work: How IBM Partners With Developers To Scale Impact appeared first on David Clark Cause.

The winning solution, Prometeo, will be deployed through a companion IBM program that is dedicated to tackling some of society’s most pressing challenges.

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT By Jennifer Drysdale‍ 1:29 PM PDT, June 6, 2019 Jessica Biel, Cher, Sting, Pitbull and more celebs are using their star power for good. […] The post Jessica Biel, Cher and More Stars Take the Call for Code Global Challenge on World Environment Day appeared first on David Clark Cause.

Céline Dion, The Jonas Brothers, Robin Thicke, Monica, Little Big Town, Olympic Champions Laurie Hernandez and Apolo Ohno as well as many other social advocates back […] The post Céline Dion, The Jonas Brothers, Robin Thicke, Olympic Champions Laurie Hernandez and Apolo Ohno back Call for Code 2019 Global Challenge appeared first on Cause Flash.

Entertainment Tonight / By Zach Seemayer‍ Some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports are lending their star power to a good cause. In recognition of […] The post Jonas Brothers, Celine Dion, Robin Thicke & More Stars Support World Health Day (Exclusive) appeared first on David Clark Cause.

The intersection of tech, humanitarian aid and celebrity voices combine in this unique initiative A Global Code Challenge to help mitigate suffering caused by natural disasters.

People Magazine / Jason Hahn The world witnessed a slew of natural disasters over the course of 2018.

On World Humanitarian Day, Celebrities that include Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Bieber, Trevor Noah, Pierce Brosnan, Kesha, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Joe Jonas, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood, Marcia […] The post Call for Code campaign tops Social Voice of 920 Million People in support of Natural Disaster Preparedness & Relief appeared first on David Clark Cause.

World Humanitarian Day - Justin Bieber, Pierce Brosnan, Trevor Noah, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Cody Simpson, Logan Henderson, Cyndi Lauper, Marcia Gay Harden, Kesha, Pentatonix and many others to lend their social voices to support United Nations Human Rights, the American Red Cross and First Responders give back in a special way.

The goal of Call For Code is to develop technology solutions that significantly improve disaster preparedness and benefit the initiative’s charitable partners: the United Nations Human […] The post Join Forces Against Natural Disasters with the Call for Code appeared first on David Clark Cause.

IBM is committing $30 million over five years to a global initiative aimed at addressing social challenges.

IBM is holding a competition to decide which team will come up with the best solution for natural disaster relief, with David Clark Cause.

IBM is calling on the global public and private sectors, including the United Nations and the Linux Foundation, to unite in finding ways of using advanced technology as a means of combating natural disasters as well as humanitarian issues. Partnered with David Clark Cause.

Call for Code, the global developer initiative founded in 2018 by social impact entrepreneur David Clark, today announced the launch of Call for Code AI — expanding its mission into the era of AI-native systems and responsible, real-world AI deployment.

Winning teams from multiple universities in Kenya, SBA Info Solutions, and Unisys developed AI-powered solutions to address social and humanitarian issues to make a real difference

In its eighth year, Call for Code presents a series of SDG-focused hackathons throughout the year, kicking off with a competition to build AI agents

Winning teams from Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Persistent, and independent consultants developed AI-powered solutions to help improve equitable access to essential resources and opportunities

Now in its seventh year, Call for Code challenges developers and university students worldwide to build AI-powered solutions to help historically underserved and vulnerable people access essential needs

Today, Call for Code Creator, David Clark Cause, Founding Partner IBM, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and Program Affiliate the Linux Foundation announced the winners of the sixth annual Call for Code Global Challenge.

The 2023 Call for Code Global Challenge, an annual initiative that encourages developers to create projects that combat climate change with AI-powered technology, officially kicked off this week.

Entering its sixth year, Call for Code introduces multiple challenges for global community of developers and students, and launches new initiative for startups and ISVs

A team of four Augustana University students has been named the grand prize winner in a global coding competition.

Call for Code founding partner IBM (NYSE: IBM), creator, David Clark Cause, charitable partner United Nations Human Rights, and program affiliate, the Linux Foundation announced the winner of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge

Organizers of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge have launched their annual invitation to software developers from around the world to create open-source solutions that accelerate sustainability and combat climate change.

David Clark Cause, IBM, United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation today officially launched the 2022 Call For Code.

David Clark Cause, IBM, United Nations Human Rights, the Linux Foundation and more to support Call for Code developers from 180 nations with open source-powered hybrid cloud and AI solutions

Created to combat water quality-related deaths, the Saaf Water sensor and analytics platform for rural localities wins 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge

With the backing of the Clinton Global Initiative, the partners are calling on the open-source community to help the Caribbean island implement economically friendly EEW systems.

Carole King, Rod Stewart, Melissa Etheridge, Sia, Kesha also join call for developers to create solutions to climate change issues

Together with Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation, IBM today announced the launch of the 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge.

The tech company and “GMA” sponsor is creating a better world by using big ideas and breakthrough technology to improve lives.

The 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge, an initiative to combat climate change with open-source-powered technology, is officially underway.

When IBM and the organizers of the Call for Code Global Challenge announced the grand prize winner last week of its third annual international tech-for-good competition, they also unveiled a new Call for Code initiative: Call for Code for Racial Justice, which IBM is describing as "a vital initiative that brings together technology and a powerful ecosystem to combat one of the greatest challenges of our time: racial injustice." Just as the original Call for Code Challenge urged developers around the world to use their skills to address climate change, and then both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Call for Code for Racial Justice expands the admonition further, calling on the international community of hundreds of thousands of developers to contribute to solutions to confront racial inequalities. Call for Code for Racial Justice encourages the adoption and innovation of open source projects to drive progress in three key areas: Police and Judicial Reform and Accountability; Diverse Representation; and Policy and Legislation Reform. The new initiative emerged from an internal IBM program called the Call for Code Emb(race) Challenge. It was started by Black IBMers who, along with Red Hatters and IBM allies, applied their ingenuity and expertise to design and develop technology solutions to address the problem of systemic racism. These solutions are now being opened up to the world as open source projects through the Call for Code tech-for-good platform. The organizers are partnering with a number of organizations, including: Black Girls Code, Collab Capital, Dream Corps, The United Way Worldwide, American Airlines, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and Red Hat. "Black Girls Code was created to introduce programming and technology to a new generation of coders," said Anesha Grant, director of alumnae and educational programs at Black Girls Code, in a statement, "and we believe that a new generation of coders will shape our futures. We're excited to participate in Call for Code for Racial Justice and to spark meaningful change." The Call for Code for Racial Justice launched officially this week at the virtual All Things Open. The IBM Call for Code for Racial Justice team kicked off the competition by contributing "solution starters" to the open source community. These projects were built using technologies such as Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, Blockchain ledger, Node.js, Vu.js, Docker, Kubernetes and Tekton, said Evaristus Mainsah, General Manager, IBM Hybrid Cloud and Edge Ecosystem and co-chair of IBM's Black Executive Council, and Willie Tejada, General Manager, IBM Developer Ecosystems Group and Chief Developer Advocate, in a joint blog post. "We're asking developers and ecosystem partners to join us in combatting racial injustice by testing, extending and implementing these open source solutions, and contributing their own diverse perspectives and expertise to make them even stronger," they said. The list of solution starters includes: Five Fifths Voter: This web application empowers Black people and other minorities to ensure their voices are heard by exercising their right to vote. It is a virtual one-stop-shop to help determine optimal voting strategies for each individual and limit the impact of previous suppression issues. Legit-info: Local legislation and policies can have significant impact on areas as far-reaching as jobs, the environment and safety. Legit-info helps individuals understand in their own language the legislation that shapes their lives. Incident Accuracy Reporting System : This platform for police incident reporting allows witnesses and victims to corroborate evidence from multiple sources and assess against an official police report. The system creates a more reliable record of all accounts of the incident. Open Sentencing: To help public defenders better serve their clients, Open Sentencing identifies racial bias in data such as demographics that can help make a stronger case. Truth Loop: This app helps communities simply understand the policies, regulations and legislation that will impact them the most. "Each year I'm amazed by how this global community of developers comes together to help solve some of the world's most pressing issues, and this year is no different," said Call for Code creator David Clark, in a statement. "Through the support of UN Human Rights, IBM, The Linux Foundation, the Call for Code ecosystem, world leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and the amazing developers that drive innovation, Call for Code has become the defining tech for good platform the world turns to for results."

From CNET: New technology like instant Wi-Fi networks and body monitoring sensors are helping first responders in the field save lives.

Agrolly, a platform built to help farmers in emerging markets, was chosen as the winner of IBM's 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. Agrolly provides farmers with a bevy of information about weather patterns and crop characteristics, giving them advice on what would be the best thing to plant during certain times of the year. The platform also has ways for farmers to connect with experts as well as ways for them to share information and tools with each other. During the virtual "2020 Call for Code Awards: A Global Celebration of Tech for Good" event, Agrolly was announced as the winner of the annual competition, which brings together the world's brightest minds to create solutions to pertinent problems. This year's task was to develop solutions to problems related to climate change and COVID-19. "Climate change is making it worse for farmers in developing countries and they are losing yield production because of the changes. When you come to emerging markets and you look at these farmers, they don't have the resources, they don't know what to plant, they don't know what the weather will be, and they don't have advantages," said Manoela Morais, CEO of Agrolly.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source. "We want to change the farming industry in the long run by listening to these small farmers in emerging markets, giving them a voice, and empowering them with the latest tech available. We wanted to create an ecosystem where they can contact each other, solve their problems and build a system that is better in the long run for everyone." A panel of judges gave Agrolly and its founders $200,000, tools to test and build out their platform, as well as support from IBM Service Corps and other technical experts. According to IBM, Agrolly will also get help from the Linux Foundation in making its platform open source, which will give developers around the world the chance to help improve it. Since it began in 2018, the Call for Code competition has brought together hundreds of thousands of developers and creators to solve the world's biggest problems, and dozens of unique ideas have been put together through the yearly event. IBM said more than 400,000 developers across 179 nations have participated, taking advantage of IBM tools like Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from the Weather Company. There are already multiple studies showing that climate change is already having a drastic effect on the world's food supply and is leading to reduced crop yields among the top 10 global crops, namely barley, cassava, maize, oil palm, rapeseed, rice, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane, and wheat. Agrolly itself uses many of these tools, particularly data from the Weather Company, which provides farmers with daily, weekly, and yearly forecasts so they know what crops to plant at which time of the year. The Agrolly team is made up of researchers, coders, and developers from Brazil, India, Mongolia, and Taiwan who met at Pace University in New York City. Morais told TechRepublic in an interview that she and the team could only start work on the project once they had all finished their final exams. Backed by IBM Cloud Object Storage, IBM Watson Studio, and IBM Watson Assistant, Agrolly was created in the hopes that it would provide struggling farmers with the kind of information they need to make better decisions and improve financially. Ajinkya Datalkar, CTO of Agrolly, explained that the platform gives farmers information that is tailored to their specific location, the kind of crops they want to plant, and the season they want to grow it. Datalkar said he was inspired to help build Agrolly because, in his home country of India, the suicide rate for farmers is becoming higher each year due to the financial crunch many face with a newly uneven climate. The app, he said is currently split into four sections: The forum, the weather, the crop management, and the expert advice. Farmers can speak to one another in the forum, get detailed weather advice from NASA and the Weather Company, receive in-depth information about crops, and call on help from experts. He also noted that the app works on a wide variety of devices. "We kept this in mind while developing this. The farmers may use old cell phones and they may use iPhone 5s, so while developing the app we decided we would also be targeting devices that support Android 4.4, which is pretty much all Androids," Datalkar said. The app is already available in the Google store and is in use in a number of countries. IBM's chief technology officer for Call for Code, Daniel Krook, said the Agrolly team was chosen not just for their innovative idea but because of how they initially came up with it. "What really stands out to me about this particular solution is that I like that from the ground up since May, they have been talking to their end-users. What they created was something based on those conversations in Mongolia and Brazil," Krook said. "They didn't just conceive of a solution to an imaginary problem. I saw that they were deeply involved and worked very closely with their end-users and I think the ecosystem will grow no matter what happens. They really have a great road map, not only of where they've gotten to right now but also where they're thinking of going from a business point of view." Agrolly was one of the five finalists chosen by the Call for Code judges. The other groups involved included OffShip, another potential solution to the effects of climate change, and three other platforms that revolved around efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The second-place prize went to Business Buddy, which will receive $25,000 and the third-place prize went to Safe Queue, which is already being used by stores to create digital replacements for physical lines. SchoolListIt was awarded fourth place and $10,000. "Each year I'm amazed by how this global community of developers comes together to help solve some of the world's most pressing issues, and this year is no different," said Call for Code creator David Clark. "Through the support of UN Human Rights, IBM, the Linux Foundation, the Call for Code ecosystem, world leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and the amazing developers that drive innovation, Call for Code has become the defining tech for good platform the world turns to for results."

2020 Call for Code Awards

Technology can serve any purpose, including the greater good. That inspired entrepreneur David Clark to start an annual competition, the Call for Code Global Challenge. “The basic idea was to create this ‘Justice League’ for good,” he says, “where we would encourage developers around the world to solve social challenges with tech solutions and really create what would be akin to the Nobel Prize for developers.” Co-founded with IBM and in partnership with the UN, the contest offers cash prizes and helps bring promising ideas to market. It issues a different challenge each year. Last year’s competition focused on preparing for natural disasters, which are becoming more common as climate change causes more extreme weather. “The innovations that came out of it quite frankly were amazing and are actually being deployed right now,” Clark says. For example, the winning team was led by a firefighter who lost a friend to smoke inhalation. He created a wearable device that monitors air quality and firefighters’ vital signs. This year, the Call for Code is seeking solutions for two of the world’s most pressing problems: COVID-19 and climate change. So soon, the world may see other winning ideas moving to the front lines. Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media.

NEW YORK (May 28, 2020) – Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Michael Bublé, Jeff Bridges, Jonas Brothers, Carole King, Rod Stewart, Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Pitbull, Pierce Brosnan, Kristen Bell, and more are among the major celebrities joining United Nations Human Rights on May 27, 2020 to launch the Call for Code awareness campaign and advocate for new tech solutions to help people suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. Over fifty of the biggest names in entertainment, sports, and fashion are lending their voice to ignite the Call for Code ‘Cause Flash,’ a global social media campaign to encourage developers and innovators to make a difference and create solutions to help the world’s most vulnerable people. The celebrity coalition has a combined social media reach of over 1 billion followers. Participants also include Aloe Blacc, Andra Day, Austin Mahone, Bazzi, Cara Delevingne, Carlos Vives, Cyndi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Pentatonix, Rev Run, Ricky Martin, Ryan Tedder, Rob Thomas, Rita Wilson, Toby Keith, and Wiz Khalifa, as well as Olympic champions Lindsay Vonn and Laurie Hernandez, actors Nina Dobrev, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, and comedienne Margaret Cho, among many others. Academy Award-winner Jeff Bridges, the first celebrity out the gate to speak out for Call for Code on his popular Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook accounts posted a poignant photo of a frontline health care worker with his message, "Let's fight back against #COVID19 & #ClimateChange. I encourage developers & innovators to make a difference. Join @CallforCode & its partner @UNHumanRights to help create solutions for the world's most vulnerable people. Visit: http://CallforCode.org #TechForGood." Since Lady Gaga made a personal video appeal in March urging ‘tech rock stars’ to commit to the cause, hundreds of thousands of developers from 165 countries have already signed up for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge , which has become the largest tech for social good initiative in history. The top tech innovations to be funded and deployed will be selected by a jury, which includes Former President Bill Clinton, Mark Cuban, American tech entrepreneur and co-host of ABC TV’s “Shark Tank,” Dr. Irwin Redlener, Director of National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Dr. Mickey Chopra, Global Solutions Lead for Service Delivery in the Health Nutrition and Population of the World Bank, Mami Mizutori, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Brian A. Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, and David Miliband, President and CEO of International Rescue Committee. United Nations Human Rights is Global Partner of Call for Code, a multi-year initiative created in 2018 by David Clark, CEO of David Clark Cause, with Founding Partner IBM, and Affiliate Partner The Linux Foundation. In addition to IBM’s initial 5-year $30 million pledge of support Call for Code, and additional $25 million pledged to help deploy the top tech solutions, Call for Code is supported by major corporations including Verizon, Arrow Electronics and Persistent Systems. “We are so grateful for the generous support from these renowned celebrities, our jury, partner organizations, and sponsors, and sincerely thank Lady Gaga for inspiring developers and innovators to answer the call,” said David Clark. “Call for Code would not be possible without United Nation Human Rights, which has helped guide our effort while they continue to work with the 193 member states to address the unfolding human rights crisis posed by Covid-19 and climate change. I also want to extend our utmost gratitude to IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and the entire IBM family for their unparalleled leadership in galvanizing the global tech community. As the most trusted technology partner there is, we’re grateful IBM answered the call to be the Founding Partner of Call for Code.”

The United Nations Human Rights group will launch this year’s Call for Code campaign on May 27th as part of the organization’s annual call for new tech solutions to global issues. The focus of the 2020 campaign will be on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Michael Bublé, Jeff Bridges, the Jonas Brothers, Carole King, Rod Stewart, Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Pitbull, Pierce Brosnan and Kristen Bell are among the announced celebrities joining the campaign on Wednesday. Participants also include Cara Delevingne, Cyndi Lauper, Fall Out Boy, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Jason Mraz, One Republic, Ricky Martin, Rob Thomas, Rita Wilson, Toby Keith and Wiz Khalifa — as well as Olympic champions Lindsay Vonn and Laurie Hernandez; actors Nina Dobrev, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth; and comedian Margaret Cho. Lady Gaga created a personal video for Call for Code back in March, asking the world’s 24 million tech developers to work toward solutions to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “Now is the time to fight back against this coronavirus, to use open source technology, to solve problems at scale and to save lives,” she said. “A great technology solution can span the globe and help so many others. I know you know this. I know this is why you do what you do.” Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and entrepreneur Mark Cuban are among those serving on the Call for Code Eminent Jury and will select the winning 2020 solutions that address both COVID-19 and climate change.

Celine Dion, Cher, Michael Bublé and Rod Stewart have teamed up with more than 50 other celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, sports and fashion in support of a climate change and COVID-19 awareness campaign called Call for Code. The initiative is designed to advocate for "new tech solutions to help people suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change." Other music artists participating in the social media awareness campaign include Barbra Streisand, Jonas Brothers, Carole King, OneRepublic, Rob Thomas, Gloria Estefan, Cyndi Lauper, Pentatonix and Jason Mraz. Artists participating are using their socials to share messages like, "Let's fight back against #COVID19 & #ClimateChange. Join @CallforCode & its partner @UNHumanRights to help create solutions for the world's most vulnerable people." Last month, Lady Gaga issued a call to “tech rock stars” on behalf of the cause. Since then, hundreds of thousands of tech innovators and developers from 165 countries have signed up for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. For more info, visit CallforCode.org .

With concerts, sports, movie productions, Broadway shows, and nearly all forms of entertainment currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s celebrities are uniting to ask tech leaders to find solutions.

Last month, the sponsors of this year's Call for Code Global Challenge expanded the scope of the event beyond its original focus on solutions that address the impact of climate change to include solutions that mitigate the impact of global pandemics. Last week, they threw a spotlight on three promising front runners on this new second track with solutions that have the potential to contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The 2020 Challenge also includes a dedicated University Edition through a partnership that began last year with the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). More than 10,000 students participated last year. IBM senior vice president Bob Lord and Chelsea Clinton, chair of the Clinton Foundation, featured the current three top solutions in a video presentation during last week's IBM Think 2020 online conference. "We really do need reasons for optimism right now," Clinton said. "And these are just extraordinary reasons to be optimistic about our resilience and what we can prove to be possible, while still recognizing the deep and painful challenges that we're in." The solutions highlighted during the presentation included: Are you Well? This mobile app was developed by a team from India-based Altran to relieve overtaxed medical systems by helping individuals evaluate their own symptoms before they get to the hospital. The mobile app combines a smart phone with IBM's Watson Assistant and connects to a global dashboard, which then assigns cases high-, medium-, or low-risk levels (based on thresholds set by the healthcare provider), and then connect them with medical professionals. Covid Impact This solution was designed to reduce the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses. Created by a team of University of British Columbia graduates from Canada, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Mexico, CovidImpact combines IBM Watson Tone Analyzer with IBM ILOG CPLEX to provide a predictive assessment that forecasts risk levels for a business and curates personalized programs and tips to reduce oncoming financial threats. It also projects a real-time list of sentiment analysis-parsed news articles relevant to small business owners from all major outlets. Safe Queue Safe Queue, created by Dave Chura, a developer in Los Angeles, is a community-driven mobile app that aims to replace physical lines at shopping centers, small businesses, and polling places with on-demand virtual lines. The idea is to enable a safer way to manage entry during the pandemic. The solution uses GPS location data to create a virtual queue of those within 1,000 feet of a location, which allows employees to control the queue digitally and validate entry with a randomly generated QR code for each customer. This solution builds on IBM Cloud Foundry for Web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. Created by David Clark Cause with Founding Partner IBM, and in partnership with the United Nations Human Rights and The Linux Foundation, Call for Code is among the largest "tech-for-good" challenges of its kind. In 2019, more than 180,000 participants from 165 countries responded to the call, creating more than 5,000 applications focused on natural disaster preparedness and relief, the company says. This year more than 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries signed up for the Challenge. Health insurance provider Anthem became a Challenge supporter this year, committing to jointly deploying one of the top solutions from the COVID challenge track. "After we expanded the focus of this year's competition to include COVID-19, the response has been tremendous," said Dennis Bly, global offering manager for academic developers at IBM, who leads IBM's global university engagement for Call for Code, in an earlier interview "In just under a month, we already have 45,000 participants from 146 countries and growing, who are actively working on solutions to help address the COVID-19 response and climate change." Challenge participants are building applications on open source software provided by IBM, including Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from The Weather Company. The grand prize for this year's Global Call for Code Challenge is $200,000, plus solution implementation through Code and Response and an opportunity for mentorship and investment in the solution. First and second runners up receive $25,000; third and fourth receive $10,000. The University Edition grand prize is $10,000 dispersed equally across the team, and each student team member will have the opportunity to interview for a potential job at IBM. The runners up also get an interview. Submissions are being accepted through July 31st. 

As part of its expanded 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge focusing on COVID-19, IBM on Tuesday announced three initial top efforts from developers. In a blog post, Bob Lord, SVP of cognitive applications, blockchain, and ecosystems, IBM, noted the solutions "have the potential to change the way we react to the pandemic." In March, IBM challenged developers to fight COVID-19 by saying: "Answer the call. Build solutions that fight back." IBM is live streaming the top initial solutions starting at 3 p.m. ET May 5, with Lord joined by Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, introducing the teams at the IBM Think Virtual Conference. Here is IBM's description of the efforts: Safe Queue was created by a single developer in Los Angeles, who was inspired to join Call for Code after seeing Lady Gaga's video about the global challenge on the local news. Safe Queue is an app to help tackle those long lines we've all seen during COVID-19 at shopping centers, small businesses, and even polling places. The app replaces physical lines with on-demand virtual lines, creating a safer way to manage entry during COVID-19. The developer used one of our starter kits–the Call for Code Community Cooperation starter kit–to create this solution, as well as IBM Cloud Foundry for web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. CovidImpact is a solution to help small businesses during this uncertain time. It was created by a global team that came together at the University of British Columbia, hailing from Canada, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Mexico. Their solution reduces the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses, by keeping them updated on the latest relevant news and available grants. CovidImpact uses IBM Watson Tone Analyzer linguistic analysis and other technologies to help forecast businesses' financial risk. Are You Well? was created by a team from Altran in India and will help reduce the strain on busy healthcare systems. The app helps people evaluate their symptoms, with the help of IBM Watson Assistant. A global dashboard assigns cases a high, medium, or low level of risk based on thresholds set by healthcare providers. The solution then connects people with medical professionals who use the data to prioritize cases and offer care in a safer manner. In his blog post, Lord wrote, "We are excited to work quickly in partnership with the Linux Foundation, Anthem, and these teams to get their innovations deployed in communities where they're needed most to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19." The company put out its 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge in February, with the United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation to tackle climate change. In March, IBM expanded the challenge, noting: "In a very short period of time, COVID-19 has brought modern life to a screeching halt, disrupting our healthcare, education, and economic systems. But we can fight back–with technology." IBM is accepting submissions for both climate change and COVID-19 through July 31, and plans to announce the global challenge winners in October. The company said it is offering participants exclusive access to a new disease tracker API from The Weather Company. Since 2018, IBM said, this movement has grown to over 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries who have answered the call. Last year's winning team, Prometeo, created a wearable device that measures carbon monoxide, smoke concentration, humidity, and temperature to monitor firefighter safety in real time as well as to help improve their health outcomes in the long term. The company said through Code and Response, it brings open source solutions to life through real-world deployments to help first responders in their efforts to save lives. In the past 18 months, this has included deployments of Project Owl and DroneAid in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, and Prometeo in areas of Spain prone to wildfires, IBM said. In his post, Lord wrote: "Medical professionals, first responders, and essential workers are rising to the challenges we're faced with today and are leading the way. IBM and David Clark Cause have led a broad ecosystem including the Linux Foundation, UNHR, Verizon, Persistent Systems, Arrow Electronics, Ingram Micro, Cognizant, ICBC, Altran, and celebrities to do our part. President Bill Clinton announced our partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative University for the second year, with a dedicated University Edition within Call for Code." "Even Lady Gaga recognized the scope and urgency of the issues we're facing and urged "tech rock stars" to lend their time and talent to the cause," he added. "In fact, the developer who created Safe Queue joined Call for Code after seeing her shout-out on a local broadcast." 

Last month, IBM expanded this year’s Call for Code Global Challenge from climate change to help develop solutions for COVID-19, and on Tuesday, IBM announced three initial top solutions that have the potential to make a real difference in the world and contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The solutions have come from teams around the world and they address issues like helping small businesses, keeping people safe when they need to go to public places, and people’s well-being. Call for Code is more than a hackathon. The winning solutions are successfully developed, field-tested and deployed in communities that need them most. Our goal is to work quickly to partner with three teams to get their innovations out in the field where they can quickly make an impact. We’ve seen overwhelming enthusiasm pour in from the developer community. Word about Call for Code is spreading, too – you may have even seen the video of Lady Gaga encouraging developers, technologists and problem solvers around the world to take on COVID-19 by building innovative technology solutions. In fact, one of the developers whose solution was chosen as a top submission joined the Challenge after seeing the Lady Gaga video on a local broadcast. IBM launched the Call for Code Global Challenge to take on society’s most pressing issues. Since 2018, this movement has grown to over 300,000 developers and problem solvers across 168 countries who have answered the call. On Tuesday, IBM announced three initial top solutions that have the potential to make a real difference in the world and contribute to the COVID-19 response efforts. The three top solutions announced Tuesday: -Safe Queue was created by a single developer in Los Angeles, who was inspired to join Call for Code after seeing Lady Gaga’s video about the global challenge on the local news. Safe Queue is an app to help tackle those long lines we’ve all seen during COVID-19 at shopping centers, small businesses and even polling places. The app replaces physical lines with on-demand virtual lines, creating a safer way to manage entry during COVID-19. The developer used one of our starter kits – the Call for Code Community Cooperation starter kit – to create this solution, as well as IBM Cloud Foundry for web app hosting, HERE technologies for geolocation, and IBM Cloudant to store data. -COVID Impact is a solution to help small businesses during this uncertain time. It was created by a global team that came together at the University of British Columbia, hailing from Canada, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Mexico. Their solution reduces the financial impact of COVID-19 on small businesses, by keeping them updated on the latest relevant news and available grants. COVID Impact uses IBM Watson Tone Analyzer linguistic analysis and other technologies to help forecasts businesses’ financial risk. -The "Are You Well?" app, created by a team from Altran in India, will help reduce the strain on busy healthcare systems. Their app helps people evaluate their symptoms, with the help of IBM Watson Assistant. A global dashboard assigns cases a high, medium or low level of risk based on thresholds set by healthcare providers. The solution then connects people with medical professionals who use the data to prioritize cases and offer care in a safer manner. "The response for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge has been tremendous," said Bob Lord, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Applications at IBM. There is still an opportunity to join the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. Register and get all the resources you need here, including exclusive access to a new disease tracker API from The Weather Company. We’ll continue to accept submissions for both climate change and COVID-19 through July 31, and plan to announce our global challenge winners in October. 

Lady Gaga has called for the world’s 24 million tech developers to work toward solutions to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Lady Gaga is calling on tech developers to come together and build a solution to shut down COVID-19.

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 .

The theme of the recently announced 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge has been expanded to include the growing threat of Coronavirus pandemic. Set up as a five-year, $30 million global initiative, Call for Code was launched two years ago by the David Clark Cause in partnership with IBM, as well as United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation. Its stated aim is to encourage developers to use their skills and mastery of the latest technologies, and to create new ones, to develop practical open source applications that will drive positive and long-lasting change across the world. The 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge was initially focused on fighting climate change, which the organisers categorised as “the single most pressing issue facing the world today”. That was just three weeks ago. Announcing the expanded theme at the weekend, the Call for Code organisers stated: “In a brief period, much has changed. COVID-19 has spread across the world with unprecedented effect and now has the potential to become the greatest crisis of modern times. 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.” They have made tools available to assist developers to build open source technology solutions that address three main COVID-19 areas: 1. Crisis communication During an emergency because, communications systems are among the first to become overwhelmed, yet they play a critical role in helping communities understand everything they need to know as quickly as possible. 2. Remote education Ways are needed to improve remote learning because, with self-isolation, children are being stuck indoors for long periods and need to be kept engaged, entertained and on top of their education. 3. Community cooperation Self-isolation and the challenges this brings require an understanding not only of what is happening in one’s community, but also how individuals can help others. Technology can be used to promote, inspire and facilitate cooperative communities. “Together, we have the power to use the latest technology in ways that make an immediate and lasting humanitarian impact in local communities and across the globe. Thank you for answering the call in this unprecedented time in our history,” IBM said in a statement. Submissions opened on March 22nd and close on July 31st, 2020. Winners will receive $200,000 in cash.

FORBES / By Simon Mainwaring While many companies promote social good initiatives, not all programs are strategically sound or measurably impactful. And while there is no easy […] The post Purpose At Work: How IBM Partners With Developers To Scale Impact appeared first on David Clark Cause.

The winning solution, Prometeo, will be deployed through a companion IBM program that is dedicated to tackling some of society’s most pressing challenges.

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT By Jennifer Drysdale‍ 1:29 PM PDT, June 6, 2019 Jessica Biel, Cher, Sting, Pitbull and more celebs are using their star power for good. […] The post Jessica Biel, Cher and More Stars Take the Call for Code Global Challenge on World Environment Day appeared first on David Clark Cause.

Céline Dion, The Jonas Brothers, Robin Thicke, Monica, Little Big Town, Olympic Champions Laurie Hernandez and Apolo Ohno as well as many other social advocates back […] The post Céline Dion, The Jonas Brothers, Robin Thicke, Olympic Champions Laurie Hernandez and Apolo Ohno back Call for Code 2019 Global Challenge appeared first on Cause Flash.

Entertainment Tonight / By Zach Seemayer‍ Some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports are lending their star power to a good cause. In recognition of […] The post Jonas Brothers, Celine Dion, Robin Thicke & More Stars Support World Health Day (Exclusive) appeared first on David Clark Cause.

The intersection of tech, humanitarian aid and celebrity voices combine in this unique initiative A Global Code Challenge to help mitigate suffering caused by natural disasters.

People Magazine / Jason Hahn The world witnessed a slew of natural disasters over the course of 2018.

On World Humanitarian Day, Celebrities that include Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Bieber, Trevor Noah, Pierce Brosnan, Kesha, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Joe Jonas, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood, Marcia […] The post Call for Code campaign tops Social Voice of 920 Million People in support of Natural Disaster Preparedness & Relief appeared first on David Clark Cause.

World Humanitarian Day - Justin Bieber, Pierce Brosnan, Trevor Noah, Ryan Seacrest, Alyssa Milano, Cody Simpson, Logan Henderson, Cyndi Lauper, Marcia Gay Harden, Kesha, Pentatonix and many others to lend their social voices to support United Nations Human Rights, the American Red Cross and First Responders give back in a special way.

The goal of Call For Code is to develop technology solutions that significantly improve disaster preparedness and benefit the initiative’s charitable partners: the United Nations Human […] The post Join Forces Against Natural Disasters with the Call for Code appeared first on David Clark Cause.

IBM is committing $30 million over five years to a global initiative aimed at addressing social challenges.

IBM is holding a competition to decide which team will come up with the best solution for natural disaster relief, with David Clark Cause.

IBM is calling on the global public and private sectors, including the United Nations and the Linux Foundation, to unite in finding ways of using advanced technology as a means of combating natural disasters as well as humanitarian issues. Partnered with David Clark Cause.