Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India - 29 Jun 2019: IBM, Xavier University and Odisha government jointly hosted the Call for Code global challenge in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The day long hackathon was organized to bring together software developers and build innovative solutions that can alleviate the effects of natural disasters. In the aftermath of Cyclone Fani hitting the state of Odisha last month, IBM along with Xavier University and Govt of Odisha will utilize the power of open technologies like Cloud, AI, IoT and Blockchain in building better solutions for the future. IBM is also organizing similar hackathons on the same day across Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore with over 100 participants expected at each location. Call for Code is a five-year global initiative that is the largest and most ambitious effort bringing together start-up, academic and enterprise developers to solve the most pressing societal issues. In 2019, the focus is on preventing, responding to and recovering from natural disasters with an emphasis on individual health and community well-being. The Odisha state government was highly successful in minimizing loss of life and damages during Cyclone Fani. IBM hopes that the solutions developed during the hackathon will further contribute to the state’s disaster management preparedness.

In India, over 15 Call for Code Developer Days were organized across major cities including Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon and Chennai this year. During the hackathon, developers will have access to resources, codes, tools and technology from IBM, across areas like Blockchain, AI, Weather Prediction and Machine Learning to build their solutions. There will be an enablement session organized for the developer teams, which will orient them to adopt a creative problem-solving approach. All entries for the Call for Code Odisha edition will be considered for the global competition.

About Call for Code 2019

The global challenge was inaugurated in May 2018, with over 100,000 developers participating from 156 nations, creating more than 2,500 applications using AI, cloud, blockchain, IoT, and/or data. IBM enlisted more than 65 corporate, government and university supporters and sponsors; and received active support from over 40 celebrities.

The winning team will receive the Call for Code Global Prize, a financial award of $200,000 USD. They will have access to longer-term support through IBM’s partnership with the Linux Foundation, as well as the opportunity to present their solution to venture capitalist firms for evaluation and feedback. The winning solution also will quickly transition from the development lab to the real world through Code and Response, a new $25 million, four-year deployment initiative for social good to put open source technologies developed as part of coding challenges such as Call for Code in the communities where they are needed most.

 

Quotes

“The recent category 4 storm Cyclone Fani in Odisha was one of the worst cyclones to hit India in last two decades." said Priya Mallya, Country Leader, Developer Ecosystem, IBM India/SA. “While natural disasters are inevitable, their impact can be reduced through technology. IBM is empowering the developer community around the world to aid people in distress and safeguard them against future disasters. We are giving developers access to technologies, free code, and training with experts to help them build innovative tools for natural disaster relief.”

“Orissa faced a great disaster on 3rd May and we have been lauded by many for the rescue and recovery operations that was executed. Our achievement is not because of the actions that we took, but more due to our preparation over the last 20 years. We leveraged technology for tracking the cyclone, predicting time & extent of impact and was able to prepare in advance with sufficient equipment. Call for Code is topical and explores how to leverage IT in developing solutions that can tackle natural disasters in the future,” said Bishnupada Sethi IAS, Relief Commissioner, Orissa Govt.

“I’m very happy that IBM is holding the Call for Code 2019 global challenge at Xavier University, Xavier School of Computer Engineering on disaster preparedness and recovery. This is a unique event in Odisha that will bring together student developers, who are the future kingmakers, to build solutions for a better society,” stated Fr. Paul Fernandes, Vice Chancellor, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar.