CodeTheCurve Winners Announced
The UNESCO-organized CodeTheCurve global hackathon came to a close this week after 34 teams from 26 countries submitted their digital innovation solutions to help fight COVID-19.
The seven day learning and hacking journey involved courses in professional development, entrepreneurship, and hands-on tech skills. Within these categories, learning sessions included building cross-functional teams, storytelling, personal branding, data science and machine learning, media and information literacy, data protection, and more.
IBM, along with SAP, UN EQUALS, iHackOnline, AngelHack, Internet Society, and other collaborators helped to create the competition. Over 400 people either participated in, mentored, judged, or organized the hackathon.
A final jury, made up of representatives from the organizations and experts from various fields, selected three winners in each category, along with one master winner.
Master Winner and Winner: Health and Social
X-COV (Spain)
X-COV designed their project to help doctors analyze large amounts of medical data; they spent three days building a smart X-ray solution that incorporates visual imaging technology, AI and machine learning to analyze chest X-rays using available data and resources. The data model they created will help doctors make quick and informed decisions, and the idea will be developed into a lasting healthcare solution beyond COVID-19.
Winner: Information and Data
CovidImpact (Canada, Mexico, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan)
CovidImpact created an open-source project to help address the impact COVID-19 is having on small businesses, by providing funding and relief opportunities. The solution offers small business leaders with a care package that will feature a list of programs and real-time news, along with a simulation tool that assesses the pandemic’s economic impact. The project will first address small businesses in Canada before being rolled out into US cities as well. The final product will incorporate IBM Z data, analytics and machine learning.
Winner: Education
VRoam (Canada)
VRoam provides a solution for the combination of a lack of social interaction and motivation to exercise during quarantine. The project uses virtual reality, AI, and 3D spatial information to let people who are social distancing in their homes explore the world’s cultural sites while exercising. VRoam was the youngest of the competing teams.
Furthering Professional Development
All of the 34 teams that completed the hackathon will be invited to take part in e-learning opportunities to further their professional development and strengthen their coding skills. The winning teams will receive one year of access to IBM LinuxONE Community Cloud, quarterly mentorship calls with IBM and/or IBM collaborators, invites to four virtual events to share their solutions, and an internship with SAP.