Call for Code - Unite Developers Against #COVID19

Call for Code is back this year! For people who have not been following us for long, let us brief you what is Call for Code and what is the focus for this year.

Readers, Call for code is a five-year tech-for-good challenge for coders/developers around the world, and with 2020, this challenge is now in its third year. This multi-year initiative is created by David Clarke Cause along with founding partner IBM. Also, Call for Code is aligned with the United Nations because of its focus on seeking solutions for most pressing global issues. Every year teams are challenged to come up with open-source technological solutions to global problems.

In the two-year initiative of this Call for Code challenge more than 200,000 coders, developers, solution architects, data scientists, problem-solvers engineers have participated and provided innovative solutions for worldwide problems.

The last two years were focused on disaster response and climate change, this year the focus is at the COVID-19 pandemic that the world is fighting for.

COVID-19, in a very short period, has brought a change in people’s lives, disturbing economies, healthcare, and education. This year Call for Code is providing an opportunity to build solutions that fight back this pandemic.

If you are a developer or not, if you are from a technical background or not, either way, it’s a great opportunity to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe and with the aid of open-source technologies combat the impacts on this global pandemic.

Why Should You Participate?

First and foremost, this is a great platform to showcase your skills and problem-solving abilities. You can channel your skills in the right way and help fight the most pressing situations of today. The winning solution will get deployed and the team will get an opportunity for mentorship and investment along with a grand prize of $200,000. While the first and second runners-up will be awarded $25000 and third and fourth runners-up $10000 per team.

Moving on, being a problem-solver, our greatest asset is logical thinking and we always thrive to learn more and stay current. Accepting Call for Code will provide you free access to IBM Cloud and information on regular updates, irrespective of the type of technology you chose for the solution. This will be an add-on to your skillset and also help accelerate the development of the solution.
Developers who are interested to accept the challenge will be provided Call for Code Starter kits created by IBM. These kits will be your go-to resources for any specific technologies, services or tutorials on the latest technologies such as cloud computing, ML, and IoT. This will provide a kick start to the teams and get their basics in place so that they can be comfortable in prototyping their novel solutions.

Four Easy Steps to get Involved

1. Accept the challenge

Learn about the competition, see what you can win, and start coding with a free IBM Cloud account.

Register

2. Build with open tech

Learn how you can make the most of resources like code patterns, expert videos, and tutorials to build your idea.

Start coding

3. Find your squad

Whether you need to find teammates, meet experts, ask questions, or share ideas - there’s a community for you.

Start networking

4. Submit your idea

Share what you’ve built and how. Submit this with your Participation agreement for a chance to win $200,000. Deadline is July 31st, 2020.

Submit your solution

Prizes

Grand prize winner

• $200,000 USD cash prize
• Invitation to the Call for Code Global Award Announcement
• Open source project support from The Linux Foundation
• Opportunity for mentorship and investment in the solution
• Solution implementation support through Code and Response™

First and second runner up

• $25,000 USD cash prize
• Invitation to the Call for Code Global Award Announcement
• Open source project support from The Linux Foundation

Third and fourth runner up

• $10,000 USD cash prize
• Invitation to the Call for Code Global Award Announcement
• Open source project support from The Linux Foundation

So, have you got your coding idea yet? If yes, go to 'Call For Code' website to get all the additional information and in case you are a developer, jump straight to the developer portal.

Don't forget to stay glued to our page for our next post with more grilling details on how can you participate and how the IBM technologies can help you prototype your idea.