Hackathon to find solutions for humanitarian problems

“Tech for Humanity”, to be held in Tallinn, Estonia June 9-11, will be devoted to finding innovative solutions to aid humanitarian catastrophes. Organised by the Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol and Garage48 the Tech for Humanity hackathon will focus on three areas: finding new implementations of technology to aid the refugee crisis; natural disasters; and developing countries.

100 contributors are expected to be involved. In the first stage, the teams will develop a prototype of the product or service that they can then introduce to the sub-committees of the UN such as the Global Humanitarian Lab and the International Committee of the Red Cross. From there on, the product development can continue in collaboration with the Global Humanitarian Lab or the Red Cross and the best solutions will be put to work.

“Better solutions in logistics, information gathering and distribution are essential to ensure that help would quickly reach the ones who need it the most. Sustainable solutions in education and psychological help are needful to ensure the normal quality of life for displaced people. These are just a few examples of areas in need of innovation – we await everyone who wants to help to solve these problems in collaboration with UN experts,” the organizers said.

Since 2010, the Tallinn-based Garage48 has been organizing hackathons where participants create prototypes to test their business ideas in 48 hours. At a hackathon, everyone can pitch their idea on Friday; the most popular ones attract teams that will start executing them; and on Sunday evening, the teams present their prototypes. So far, over 60 Garage48 events have taken place in 17 countries and four continents.

[Estonian World]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.