IBM and partners launched a “Call for Code” initiative, an ambitious effort to bring startup, academic, and enterprise developers together to solve one of the most pressing societal issues of our time: preventing, responding to, and recovering from natural disasters.
IBM is committing $30 million over 5 years in the initiative. Its goal is to unite the world's developers and tap into data and AI, blockchain, cloud, and IoT technologies to address social challenges.
"At IBM, we harness the power of technologies like AI, blockchain, IoT, and cloud to address some of the biggest opportunities and challenges in business," said Bob Lord, IBM chief digital officer. "Now, with Call for Code, we are calling on all developers to join us and use these same leading edge technologies to help people, their communities and society."
Through Call for Code, IBM and David Clark Cause are joining forces with the United Nations Human Rights Office and its human rights-based approach to humanitarian action, which focuses on securing the participation of affected groups in preparedness, response and recovery efforts, and bringing attention to the most excluded and marginalized populations.
"Technology can be a powerful force to advance human rights and build more equitable societies. Call for Code is an excellent opportunity to explore how technology can play a role in addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations and those who are at risk of having their human rights violated in the context of a humanitarian crisis," said Laurent Sauveur, head of external relations of the United Nations Human Rights Office.
Call for Code also integrates the American Red Cross' focus on new ways to bring support to disaster victims – especially important with 2017 ranked as one of the worst years on record for catastrophic events, including fires, floods, earthquakes, and storms.
Call for Code invites developers to create new applications to help communities and people better prepare for natural disasters. For example, developers may create an app that uses weather data and supply chain information to alert pharmacies to increase supplies of medicine, bottled water and other items based on predicted weather-related disruption. Or, it could be an app that predicts when and where the disaster will be most severe, so emergency crews can be dispatched ahead of time in proper numbers to treat those in need.
IBM's $30 million investment over 5 years will fund access to developer tools, technologies, free code, and training with experts. The winning team will receive a financial prize, and, perhaps more rewarding, they will have access to long-term support to help move their idea from prototype to real-world application. This includes ongoing developer support through IBM's partnership with the Linux Foundation.
To raise awareness and interest in Call for Code, IBM is coordinating interactive educational events, hackathons, and community support for developers around the world in more than 50 cities, including Amsterdam, Bengaluru, Berlin, Delhi, Dubai, London, New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, and Tel Aviv.
Information is available at http://Callforcode.org.