IBM has officially deployed an accelerated timeline for its coronavirus Call for Code and published three coronavirus-related Call for Code starter kits.
Each starter kit includes a comprehensive guide to help developers create apps to alleviate the problems people and communities are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have learned how passionate developers are about solving the world's most pressing issues, and how Call for Code's infrastructure gives developers, data scientists, students, and subject matter experts the infrastructure they need to move from ideation through implementation,” said Daniel Krook, CTO of Call for Code. “Publishing developer-friendly starter kits has been key to help get developers up-and-running fast.”
Introducing three coronavirus starter kits
Crisis communication: Coronavirus has prompted many people to seek answers about symptoms, testing sites and the status of their communities. This starter kit comes equipped with a preloaded virtual assistant that understands and responds to common COVID-19 questions and scans COVID-19 news articles using Watson Discovery.
Remote education: While we may be in the midst of a pandemic, the edification of our youth must continue. Many schools and universities nationwide have shifted to online instruction to ensure the safety of themselves and their students. The remote education kit provides a set of IBM Cloud- and Watson Services-backed open-source tools related to remote education.
Community cooperation: We may be practicing social distancing, but there is a growing interest in enabling cooperation among communities. More than ever, neighbors are offering to combine grocery runs and assist those around them. This kit enables the rapid deployment of applications that empower communities to continue working together.
IBM is continuing to develop a wide ecosystem of partners and tech providers in hopes of helping participants round out their solutions. Some of these partners include Altran and Bank of China.
Tarush Verma, client leader and AVP at Altran, said: “Altran will help fight this pandemic by creating innovative solutions for the Call for Code Global Challenge including chatbots and other applications based on the new COVID-19 developer starter kits.”
IBM reported it’s received upward of 1,000 registrations in a single day. Many of those applicants were individuals on the front lines, at-risk individuals and experienced coders who want to share their experiences and contribute to creating meaningful solutions.
The initial submission deadline for this year’s Call for Code is now April 27. IBM will announce the three best solutions on May 5. Those teams will then work alongside IBM to have their solutions released into the “real world.”
To participate in this year’s Call for Code, visit the Call for Code site here.
