COVID-19 has placed a heavy burden on developing countries unravelling enormous social and economic consequences. Therefore, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) together with the European Commission and  “Team Europe” partners including other EU member states, tech companies and civil society are calling out the global hackathon #SmartDevelopmentHack. We invite you to become part of this mission.

The “Call for Solutions https://bit.ly/SmartDevelopmentHackCOVID19 is now open until 27.04.2020!

About #SmartDevelopmentHack
We are calling for digital solutions worldwide to adapt them to the challenges faced in developing countries and to immediately implement them against the COVID-19 crisis. This will be achieved through a matchmaking of digital solution providers and implementation expertise. The best teams will enter a two-day intensive hackathon, present their proposal to our jury and potentially receive significant financial support for direct execution.

Process and Timeline

  • 20 April to ⁠27 April, 2020: Call for Solutions to our challenges
  • 20 April – 30 April, 2020: Call for Implementing Partners
  • 4 May – 11 May, 2020: Matchmaking between solutions and implementation experts
  • 14 May – 15 May, 2020: Two-⁠day online hackathon
  • 20 May, 2020: Winner announcement


Participation Criteria
Do you have an innovative and digital solution that you would like to apply and scale to one of our challenges? As a solution provider, you need to meet the following criteria:

  • You need to offer an existing digital solution and apply
  • The solution must be easily adaptable to the relevant context for quick implementation
  • Eligible are private companies (start-ups, profit-oriented companies, social enterprises), NGOs, foundations, academic and research institutions
  • This is a global call for solutions. However, participants from the EU, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America are particularly encouraged to submit solutions
  • To attend the hackathon, you need to be free on 14 and 15 May 2020.


What’s in it for You?
We support you with professional digital as well as long-term local expertise to implement the solutions together in our partner countries. In addition, you will be given the opportunity to network with a diverse group of organizations and individuals of the digital economy and the public sector.

Finally, a jury of BMZ, the EU Commission, Smart Africa, GIZ and other partners will select the best hackathon projects – which will receive significant financial support for the implementation to scale their idea within the vast partner network.

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