Open Source for Equality was created with financial support from the Smart Development Fund, a joint initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Commission (EC).
The #SmartDevelopmentFund was conceived as a springboard for innovative global partnerships, creating impactful and sustainable solutions at a local level. It was launched in Spring 2020 as a response to the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has placed a heavy burden on developing countries, exposed the consequences of deepening inequalities, and triggered long-term social and economic development challenges. The #SmartDevelopmentHack competition called for innovative digital solutions to unlock a new generation of initiatives that tackle the unprecedented upheaval caused by the coronavirus outbreak in low- and middle-income countries, which are increasingly bearing the brunt of COVID-19 cases.
Under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, together with "Team Europe" partners from the EC, other European Union Member States, tech companies and civil society; nine groundbreaking projects were selected and are currently scaling their innovations around the world. One of the winning projects was Audiopedia, a platform developed by the German NGO URIDU. Open Source for Equality was created as a consequence of scaling the Audiopedia approach using Open Source.