IBM Call for Code Challenge invites inventors to develop tech to tackle climate change

IBM along with Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, UNHR and Linux Foundation has launched the fourth season of Call for Code Challenge. According to the company, the competition for 2021 invites software developers and innovators to combat climate change with open source-powered technology. The IBM Call for Code Challenge, this year, has grown to more than 400,000 developers and problem solvers across 179 nations. The 2020 edition had over fifteen thousand applications.

Partners in the IBM Call for Code Challenge

With the Call for Code Challenge, IBM aims to drive immediate and lasting humanitarian progress around the world. Thus, it has, Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, atmospheric data from IBM's Weather Company, and developer resources and APIs from partners like Intuit and New Relic in the loop. Further, UN World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator experts, Arrow Electronics, Black Girls Code, Caribbean Girls Hack, Clinton Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative University, Ingram Micro, Intuit, Kode With Klossy, NearForm, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Way, and World Institute on Disability support the program.

To help take on climate change, IBM has also partnered with Heifer International and charity: water. “Heifer International joins the Call for Code movement, contributing their world-renowned expertise in mitigating hunger and poverty by investing in local farmers and their communities,” it said.

About the program

"Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and we must apply our collective ingenuity and cutting-edge technologies to make a lasting difference," said Ruth Davis, director of Call for Code, IBM. "Together with our ecosystem of partners, IBM will work with the winning team to incubate and deploy their solution in communities where it's most needed, just as we've done with past winners. I encourage every developer and innovator around the world to seize this opportunity through Call for Code to change our climate trajectory."

What will teams win in the IBM Call for Code Challenge?

“The winning team from each Call for Code Global Challenge receives $200,000, and support from the IBM Service Corps, technical experts, and ecosystem partners to incubate their technology, open source their code to make it available for anyone to use, and deploy their solution on the ground in communities around the world,” said David Clark, CEO of David Clark Cause, and Creator of Call for Code. “This year the competition also focuses on three sub-themes that are key to combatting climate change: clean water and sanitation; zero hunger; and responsible production and green consumption.”

“In our first three years of Call for Code, we've consistently had more people participate from India than anywhere else. In recognition of this extraordinary engagement IBM has this year has added a standalone award of USD 5,000 for India,” the company said in its blog.