CORONATHON.me: Online Hackathon to respond to COVID-19 and recover from the crisis

20.04.2020

Sign up for CoronaThon and help Montenegro find innovative solutions to fight against the new Corona virus.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Culture are organizing the first online hackathon in Montenegro – CORONATHON.me, in collaboration with: DevClub, Alicorn, Digitalizuj.Me, M: tel digital factory, IEC Tehnopolis and Science and Technology park. The hackathon media partners are RTCG, TV Vijesti, Vijesti portal, Analitika portal and CDM portal.

The aim of the Hackathon is to find solutions that will help Montenegro to adapt quickly, respond to the crisis and recover from the effects of the new corona virus – COVID-19. The event will bring together the digital community, experts from various fields and citizens. The virtual competition will be held on 24-26 April. The teams will have 48 hours to develop a solution from the comfort of their own home.

The spread of COVID-19 is not just a health crisis. The pandemic also causes a social and economic crisis, which threatens to leave deep scars, weaken markets and deepen inequalities. However, as the virus spreads and the consequences are felt, technology and innovations play an increasing role in the overcoming challenges. Not only does technology facilitate functioning and daily life in a restricted environment,but it also offers effective solutions for rapid response and recovery from the crisis.

Relying on the collective intelligence of the digital, scientific and academic community, CoronaThon participants will focus their energy and knowledge on finding the best, fastest and most effective solutions for the three priorities:

  1. Protecting Life and Public Health: Helping individuals and families to care for their health; Providing community support to slow the spread of the virus; Protection of health professionals; Assistance in providing a faster and better response to the health system; Promoting healthy lifestyles and helping to build mechanisms for adaptation, including psycho-social support.
  2. Accelerating recovery: Support to the business sector to adapt and offer new services; Assistance in creating employment opportunities for young people; Providing access to small business financing and start-up businesses; Innovation in the provision of services and support for the most vulnerable, in the context of employment and social protection; Protecting creative businesses – mapping creative ones and connecting them to market; Use of new data and support for digital infrastructure.
  3. Securing a sustainable future: Innovative solutions to keep greenhouse gas emissions as low as possible through green tourism and sustainable transportation; Securing new green jobs; Creating new creative content in order to promote Montenegro and its cultural heritage (eg. through demo video games); Educational activities – including investment in digital skills and infrastructure.

All proposed solutions should focus on the protection of human rights as well as the protection of vulnerable groups. Interested teams can apply till April 20, 11:59 PM by filling out the form at www.coronathon.me. The teams will have the support of mentors from the IT industry and from one of the areas that the solution focuses on. The audience will be able to follow the finals of the competition via live video.

The total prize fund is EUR 13.000: 5.000 for the first place, 3.000 for the second place and 2.000 for the third place, as well as three additional prizes of EUR 1.000 each. The winning teams will also have the expert support to implement the solution over the next three months, as well as the media promotion.

The jury will select the CoronaThon winners based on the following criteria: sustainability, possibility of solution replication, impact, feasibility, timeline and innovation. The emphasis is on the practical solutions that can be of benefit to individuals, the community and businesses as soon as possible.

For further information on the Hackathon, the rules for the participation and the competition criteria, visit the official website – www.coronathon.me.

For any additional questions, interested parties may contact the organizers by email: info@coronathon.me or social: CoronaThon.meCoronaThon.meCoronaThon.me.

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