IBM and Data Science are Helping Save the World through Call for Code

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The devastating impact of natural disasters can be measured in human suffering, loss of life and economic impact. It is estimated that 2.5 million people have been directly affected by natural disasters since 2000. Additionally, natural disasters have had an economic impact of $1.3 trillion since 2003.

Even though natural events such as floods, earthquakes or hurricanes are inevitable, I believe that their impact can be mitigated through the application of data and analytics. Toward that end, David Clark – under the auspices of his David Clark Cause project – created Call for Code to inspire technology experts (referred to as “coders”) to bring their skills to bear to help build new solutions to help improve the world in which we live.

What is Call for Code?

Call for Code is a multi-year global initiative for developers to use their skills and mastery of the latest technologies to drive positive change across the world. Call for Code brings startups, academicians, and enterprise developers together to inspire them to solve the most pressing societal issues of our time. In partnership with IBM and other sponsors and supporting organizations such as the United Nations Human Rights Office and American Red Cross, David Clark Cause is trying to make the world a better, safer place.

Their first challenge, the 2018 Call for Code Global Challenge, is a competition that asks developers to create solutions to reduce the deleterious impact of natural disasters on human lives, health, and wellbeing by improving the current state of natural disaster preparedness. The ultimate goal of the challenge is to incentivize teams to build high-quality, lasting solutions that can be deployed in the areas of greatest need and that benefit all parties.

Data is the Fuel; Data Science is the Engine

The Call for Code Challenge will necessarily be fueled by data; data, after all, represent the underlying processes that generate the data. If you understand the data, you understand the process that generates them. Additionally, coders can leverage the practice of data science – the practice of using technology and statistics to surface insights – to understand processes surrounding natural disasters, helping humankind be better prepared to deal with natural disasters; yes, data science can do a lot more than merely increase the number of clicks your advertisement receives.

The United Nations and the American Red Cross have given coders a head start by providing various data sets on which to build their solutions. Check out these links to get you started:

• UN Data from the United Nations Statistics Division
• UN Sustainable Development Goals Indicators
• Red Cross Catalogs and Resources

How to Get Involved

You can start changing the world today by registering here for the competition. To learn more about the Call for Code Challenge, check out their FAQ page.

Competition rules include:

• Submissions must be deployed and run on the IBM Cloud.
• Submissions must use IBM Cloud services. Use of sponsor or affiliate APIs and open source technology is also encouraged.
• Teams of up to 5 participants, each at least 18 years old, are allowed.
• All team members must have completed the Participation Agreement to compete.
• A participant may not be part of multiple teams.
• Winning teams will be subject to a code-review after submissions close on September 28.
• Overall rights of first refusal to invest in projects are outlined in the Participant Agreement.

Help from IBM

IBM is making its cloud, data science, artificial intelligence, and transactional technology available to participants. Participants are encouraged to start from a library of IBM Code Patterns – open source roadmaps for solving complex programming challenges – that demonstrate how to use various IBM services, including Weather Company, Watson AI, and Blockchain services on the IBM Cloud. There are six technology areas that provide starting points for participants to build out their submissions using IBM Cloud services. These include:

• Build secure, resilient, and traceable supply networks with blockchain
• Use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve real-time communications with natural language processing
• Understand, analyze and predict health and nutrition needs to improve services with data science
• Improve logistics-based traffic and weather activity to reduce the number of people affected
• Collect and analyze device-sensor data to take corrective or preventive action automatically
• Using machine learning, deep learning, and visual recognition to improve critical processes

Prizes

Participants have the chance to win cash prizes.

GRAND PRIZE: $200,000.00 USD (Distributed by David Clark Cause)

• The Call for Code Global Prize
• Open source project support from The Linux Foundation
• Venture capitalist introduction for an opportunity to secure funding
• Opportunity to deploy the solution through the IBM Corporate Service Corps
• Plus travel to the Call for Code Global Prize Event in October

RUNNER UP PRIZE: $25,000.00 USD (Distributed by David Clark Cause)

• Plus travel to the Call for Code Global Prize Event in October

2nd RUNNER UP PRIZE: $25,000.00 (Distributed by David Clark Cause)

• Plus travel to the Call for Code Global Prize Event in October

3rd RUNNER UP PRIZE: $10,000.00 (Distributed by David Clark Cause)

4th RUNNER UP PRIZE: $10,000.00 (Distributed by David Clark Cause)

The People Make the World

The world is only as good as the people who inhabit it. Call for Code is one way where you can make a significant impact on the world in which you live by building solutions that will help improve the lives of potentially millions. I hope you join your developer/data science/technology peers in this first Call for Code global challenge to make the world a better, safer place.

This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.