Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 58 | Page 61

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology

IBM announces 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge regional finalists

Climate change has already had devastating effects on communities around the world and even worse is expected in the near future if nothing is done . That ’ s why IBM and its partners again decided to focus the Call for Code Global Challenge on using open sourcepowered technology to combat climate change and overcome the many challenges it has created .

The tech giant recently announced the competition ’ s regional finalists and the two teams representing sub-Saharan Africa : Mavuno Link from Kenya who have developed an app designed to address food security by connecting farmers , distributors like drivers and buyers or consumers and Blue Waters from Botswana which developed a real-time dashboard providing insights on the safety of drinking water and toxins that can affect human populations and wildlife .
The climate crisis has become one of the most pressing issues of our time , so critical the United Nations ’ Secretary-General labeled it as “ code red for humanity ” in response to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .
With the report predicting dramatically rising temperatures and sea levels , and more frequent drought and fire weather over the next 20 years , change and collaboration are needed to make both an immediate and lasting difference .
Because of this urgency and consistent with IBM ’ s long commitment to environmental leadership , this year ’ s Call for Code Global Challenge invited the world ’ s software developers and innovators to come together to combat climate change with open source-powered technology . In particular , participants were asked to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2 ( Zero Hunger ), 6 ( Clean Water and Sanitation ) and 12 ( Responsible Consumption and Production ), and through them to help halt and reverse the impact of climate change .
Ruth Davis , IBM Director of Call for Code , said : “ After months of work by teams around the world and much deliberation by our distinguished judges , we ’ re excited to announce the regional finalists for the global competition . Our judges have identified the top solutions from Asia Pacific , Europe , Greater China , India , Latin America , Middle East and Africa , and North America . Congratulations to these teams and thank you all for your time , dedication , and ingenuity !”
Since Call for Code launched in 2018 by David Clark Cause and IBM , with the support of the Linux Foundation and United Nations Human Rights , more than 500,000 developers and problem solvers across 180 nations have joined the movement and built 20,000 applications to help address some of the world ’ s most pressing issues , including natural disasters , COVID-19 , racial injustice , and climate change . These applications were built using open source-powered software , such as Red Hat OpenShift , IBM Cloud , IBM Watson , IBM Blockchain , data from IBM ’ s The Weather Company and developer resources and APIs from partners like Esri and Twilio . Fourteen Call for Code projects to date have been adopted into open governance by the Linux Foundation . p
www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA 61