coronavirus is not the only thing spreading in latam
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Contxto – There’s something spreading throughout the Latam region besides coronavirus: Entrepreneurialism and grit.
While the disease continues to wreak havoc, universities and accelerators in Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina are launching a hackathon to find solutions to the pandemic.
Known as #HackCovid19, this initiative calls for entrepreneurs, students, developers, researchers or anyone with a great idea to participate. Likewise, organizers want solutions in public data management, logistics, hardware, alert systems, and mobility.
Signing up and participating is all online of course.
Related article: Latin American startups versus Covid-19
Latam’s coronavirus hackathon
Teams will be built and work remotely. Each aforementioned country and its corresponding organizing bodies will carry out their own hackathon, but they will all follow the same dynamic and areas of interest.
The Universidad ORT Uruguay and its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurialism (CIE) alongside Fundacion da Vinci are in charge in Uruguay.
Meanwhile, in the country of Ticos, the University of Costa Rica’s Entrepreneurship Management Agency (AUGE for its Spanish acronym) calls the shots.
And in Argentina it’s up to the FIDE Business Incubator and the National University of Córdoba.
Moreover, what’s promising is the level of response. For example, in Argentina in a single day 160 people signed up.
Hackathon process
The hackathon in each of the countries will consist of three phases:
- Propose: participants will share the challenges brought about by the coronavirus. Organizers will choose which proposals move onto the next phase.
- Hack: Multidisciplinary teams will be put together to design and develop solutions based on an accepted proposal. They’ll receive guidance from the hackathon’s partners.
- Share: the projects are shared with the community.
For more information on how to participate, check out the #HackCovid19 website here.
You know what’s better than watching/reporting on a handful of startups from a single country innovating to take on coronavirus? Writing about the rise of a regional initiative like this one.
If there’s a silver lining to this it’s that entrepreneurs’ innovative spirit can be just as quick and contagious as the disease that started it all.
Related articles: Tech and startups from Uruguay!
-ML
