SERN will Participate in EUvsVirus Challenge
The EU Commission is organizing a major hackathon. It will address current COVID-19 issues, such as impacted businesses. SERN will participate in EUvsVirus, bringing in its skills.
It has been some months since Corona first hit Europe. As it’s known, the impact is being devastating. The continent’s deaths have already surpassed 100,000. Also, most economic and social sectors have been affected. Most people are now in lockdown, in countries. Schools are closed, together with stores and restaurants. Also, a major recession is expected over the coming months.
Striving to find solutions, the EU’s organizing a hackathon. The initiative was created by the EIC (European Innovation Council), with Commission support. Under the title EUvsVirus, the event will start on the 24th April. It will last 2 days, and awards will be given on the 30th. Of course, it will be a major international event. Besides most EU members, countries like Israel, or the US will be involved.
The hackathon will regard challenges in 5 fields. These will be Health & Life; Business Continuity; Social & Political Cohesion; Remote Working & Education; and Digital Finance. Besides these, participants can also propose other areas. Inside such topics, diverse problems will be addressed. Health, for example, has at least 5 sub-challenges. First, it will regard the production (cheap/fast) of protective equipment. Second, it will concern efficient building of respirators. The protection of healthcare workers will be the third. The fourth addresses real-time prevention, and communication, of COVID-19. Fifth, rapid virus tests will need to be invented.
The event, of course, encourages interdisciplinary participation. Regarding business, SERN will participate in EUvsVirus. This sub-section will explore how businesses can survive, during these times. Interestingly, it will address important innovation-related topics. Examples are teleworking productivity, or online tools for SME’s.
As an organization, we encourage entrepreneurs to participate. It is not only a way of developing innovation, but of helping. It’s because of this that SERN will participate in #EUvsVirus, proudly.
