Global challenge invites developers to take on climate change
IBM, United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation have launched the annual Call for Code challenge that seeks to galvanise the efforts of developers, students, and problem-solvers to help accelerate sustainability.
The fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge, which urges developers to create solutions that accelerate sustainability and tackle climate change, has been announced.
Call for Code was conceived by David Clark Cause in partnership with founding partner IBM, and United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation.
Sustainability issue
Challenge participants can identify the sustainability issue they want to solve, form a team, and start building by registering on the new Global Challenge resource site, hosted by BeMyApp.
Once registered, participants will be able to attend challenge accelerator events to help fast-track their projects, learn from subject matter experts, access exclusive skills-building materials, and use exclusive toolkits, APIs, and data sets from the Weather Company and participating IBM ecosystem partners.
Solutions can be submitted any time before the deadline of 31 October 2022. The Grand Prize winner will receive $200,000 and solution implementation support from IBM ecosystem partners.
“Technology is the catalyst for scaling solutions to global problems – from climate change to humanitarian issues, and even the global pandemic,” said Ruth Davis, director, Call for Code, IBM.
“IBM along with Call for Code and these ecosystem partners are dedicated to taking on the complex challenge of sustainability and encourage problem solvers around the world to take part.”
Teams of developers and problem solvers are asked to innovate solutions that address the diverse challenges aligned to sustainability and the impacts of climate change. For example, solutions can include new ways to improve sustainable production, consumption, and management of resources, reduce pollution creation, and protect biodiversity to create a greener future, among others.
“Call for Code and these ecosystem partners are dedicated to taking on the complex challenge of sustainability and encourage problem solvers around the world to take part”
Solutions may also address areas such as:
- how to improve the ability to measure, analyse, or take decisive action on carbon emissions
- refine supply chain transparency and traceability to bring fast and accurate visibility to sustainability issues where they arise
- reduce volume of and demand for materials that create the biggest waste footprint; and encourage reuse/recycle opportunities.
University students will have the opportunity to win the University Prize, a programme created in partnership between IBM and Clinton Global Initiative University. In 2021, more than 90,000 students across hundreds of universities around the world, surpassed the programme goal by nine times.
The alliance and its global partner United Nations Human Rights are working to empower solutions and reframe climate change as a human rights crisis due to its disproportionate impact on women, people of colour, and impoverished and marginalised communities.
“From rising sea levels, extreme weather events, wildfires and droughts, to food insecurity, health impacts, mass migrations, and increasing global conflict, there is no denying that climate change is a humanitarian crisis,” added Bill Stark, chief impact officer, Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance.
“With its global reach and history of success over the years, we’re excited to work with Call for Code, as it has proven to be the gold standard when it comes to engaging developers around the world to innovate for social good.”
“From rising sea levels, extreme weather events, wildfires and droughts, to food insecurity, health impacts, mass migrations, and increasing global conflict, there is no denying that climate change is a humanitarian crisis”
2021 Call for Code Global Challenge winner, Saaf water, team of India-based university students, recently completed a successful test of its accessible water quality sensor and analytics platform at a housing complex in Goa, India. The test helped Saaf water analyse the building’s water quality and they were able to update their installation process for future tests.
Launched in 2018 and now in its fifth year, Call for Code has galvanised a community of more than 500,000 developers, students, and problem solvers from 180 nations who answered the call to use advanced technologies to design cutting-edge open source-powered hybrid cloud and AI solutions that can tackle the world’s most pressing societal issues.
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