Planet Earth is a prodigious environment, full of mysterious forces, but the human race has seriously damaged it in the last 50 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Earth could probably heal itself, but in the process, the planet’s ability to support today\u2019s human population would disappear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the problems we face today have been created by choosing to continue old production methods and ways of living even though a whole new set of transformative industries have been developing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supply chains for food and water and the industry to sustain ten billion people all need to undergo a worldwide re-engineering process. People and organizations need to realign themselves in new, interconnected ways if the human race is to survive and thrive. Luckily, technology itself could prove to be a significant part of the cure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The great news is that you can be part of this cure by participating in the 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge. This worldwide initiative is based on teams working to develop solutions to change the planet’s situation – and their own lives too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Participate in a team, come up with a solution, and compete for the chance to win US$200,000 and receive comprehensive support to deploy your solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Call for Code initiative offers you the opportunity to build and contribute to sustainable, open-source technology projects<\/a> that address social and humanitarian issues. Call for Code is different from any other tech-for-good initiative. The winning solutions are deployed to make a demonstrable difference in the communities with the greatest need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IBM has been part of the Call for Code Global Challenge for a long time – 2021 marks their fourth engagement with the initiative. The challenge itself is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> of the UN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The excitement felt by participants in previous editions can be experienced by all would-be developers by reading the words of their predecessors. This community includes over 400,000 developers in 179 Countries, creating over 15,000 applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IBM Call for Code Global Challenge 2021 is a great way to help improve the future of our planet. As a developer, you can make a difference. Join the IBM Call for Code Global Challenge 2021 NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t Meryll has always been passionate about the human brain, so it’s not surprising to find him at the intersection between neuroscience, behavioral health, and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This 26-year-old young Frenchman has lived in many parts of the world, including Japan, before moving to study and living on the USA’s Pacific coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of attention is paid to natural disasters in California, where everybody fears the Big One – an immense earthquake that is always expected due to the proximity of the San Andreas Fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDown in Berkeley, I was involved in a hackathon every two weekends\u201d, recalls Meryll; \u201cand with my friends, we decided to create a project dedicated to first responders in case of a disaster, either from nature or from men, such as a terrorist attack\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meryll is French, although his English is accent-free, so he was shocked by the November 2015 Paris attacks, including the infamous attack on the Bataclan Theatre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These attacks highlighted the need for physical and psychological help for caregivers, such as 911 operators, fire brigades, and other first responders. Meryll and his team came up with a hackathon project named Aster, focusing on this problem, which won the hackathon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hackathon in questions was a big one, and IBM people were in attendance. They suggested Meryll\u2019s team should apply for the Call for Code Challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s this? – we all said – but none of us knew it\u201d, smiles the young technologist. None of the team had ever heard of the biggest hackathon in the world! \u201cI still don\u2019t know why I didn\u2019t know about Call for Code\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The original team of European graduates applied to the 2019 edition. The goal of the 2019 edition of Call for Code was to create open-source technology solutions to mitigate the impact of natural disasters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n IBM employees mentored Aster throughout the process. Everything happened quickly, without time to think of anything other than the project, gathering speed constantly until Aster hit the finals<\/a> in September 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was celebration time at the UN headquarters, with top-level managers from ICT companies, political institutions, and UN hosts: we fully understood what we were doing only that evening\u201d, Meryll reminisces fondly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Celebrations over, it was business time, the day after the celebration. The Aster team joined Citris Foundry, a well-known start-up incubator. \u201cWe needed a viable business model\u201d – something you normally don’t have just lying around!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aster then became Cal<\/a>A<\/a>ster<\/a>, and expanded their initial idea into a solution that can scale up to support the complex and overstressed ecosystem of small care organizations that prize their independence but still seek to collaborate with others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CalAster’s goal is an IoT<\/a> and AI-based solution that is difficult to describe in just a few words, but for which the need can be made clear with just two numbers: psychological pressure results in about 30% of caregivers developing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), and the number one KPI is answering in less than 15 seconds, or it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One more thing gained from this experience was understanding viable business models. He is now a serial entrepreneur as the co-founder of two startups and a member of a third one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, he has a bigger project to concentrate on. He wants to live at least 1000 years. Now aged 26, he would have another 974 years to go were it not impossible. Or is it? Maybe, a human being will never live 1000 years, but apparently, AI, neuroscience, and active monitoring could make a difference in this field in a not-so-far future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s return to this year\u2019s competition and what it means for you. The main way to get involved with Call for Code is by forming a team and competing in the Global Challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If your current schedule does not allow you to be part of a team, you can help by contributing code to existing open-source projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IBM\u2019s goal is to broaden their horizons to include different subjects each year. The 2021 challenge focuses on three different ways to help the world: the Zero Hunger Challenge, the Clean Water and Sanitation Challenge, and the Responsible Production and Green Consumption challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are more details about each of these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Approximately 9% of the global population suffers from hunger. At the same time, much of the world\u2019s food is grown by small-scale, independent farms and distributed through local community cooperatives that sell surplus produce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Such co-ops provide a central focus for quality control, deliveries, and enabling the creation of local, food-based commodity markets. However, these co-ops face many logistical challenges when it comes to getting the right food to the right place at a minimal financial and time cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A global organizational effort is needed to devise a new, comprehensive supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reducing food waste, increasing harvesting, optimizing sustainability, developing cooperative systems, analyzing data of every kind, improving the food supply chain, and many similar possibilities could move deprived areas towards the zero-hunger goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IBM suggests the adoption of three basic technologies to solve the Zero<\/a>–<\/a>Hunger Challenge<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A water-quality dashboard gives one possible solution. Data is captured through both hi-res and mobile phone cameras. Images and other messages are exchanged through a gateway: Telstra’s in Australia or Twilio elsewhere in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An IBM backend in the cloud uses Node-Red event-driven management to feed a machine learning model on IBM CPDaaS. Relevant information is extracted from data and sent back to the administrator’s console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Improved access to nutritious food in local communities, especially those suffering from acute hunger; cooperative systems can be digitized and enhanced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By aggregating and analyzing market, transportation, horticultural, and environmental data, co-ops can optimize productivity, reduce overheads, and decrease volatility in the supply chain of the farming communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMeet Meryll Dindin, a 2019 finalist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A hackathon in Berkeley<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Call for Code<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Calaster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
974 more years<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Three ways to help the world: food, water, and production <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Zero-Hunger Challenge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The proposed architecture<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The ideas<\/h4>\n\n\n\n