We are very pleased to announce that we are one of 9 winners of the #SmartDevelopmentHack! With #SmartDevelopmentHack the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) called for innovative digital solutions to tackle the challenges caused by the coronavirus outbreak in low- and middle-income countries. Under the patronage of the BMZ together with the Directorate-General International Cooperation and Development from the EU Commission, other EU member states, tech-companies and civil society, the global hackathon was launched as part of the upcoming German Council Presidency.
The judging panel consisted of Koen Doens (Directorate-General “International Cooperation and Development” DEVCO), Tanja Gönner (Member of the Management Board, GIZ), Rahul Mullick (Digital & Supply Chain Lead, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Prof. Dr. Thomas Hofmann (President, Technical University Munich), Prof. Dr. Joachim Nagel (Member of the Management Board, KfW), Lacina Koné (General Director, Smart Africa), Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti (Secretary-General of the Organisation of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States OACPS) and Dr. Maria Flachsbarth (Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development).
From more than 1,000 submitted solutions only 20 were selected for the final two-day hackathon. As one of the winning teams, we will implement our Audiopedia health education approach in almost 20 countries worldwide while at the same time open sourcing all our contents and technologies. Our implementation partner will be the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (DAHW) and GIZ Pakistan. The project will be fully funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Mentors from several organizations will support us during the implementation process. All winning projects will be showcased at the at the European Union – African Union Summit in October 2020.