Swedbank AB, a Nordic-Baltic banking group headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is reportedly sponsoring a global hackathon, which will try to find solutions to deal with the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The event, which is scheduled to take place between April 9-12, 2020, aims to be the largest online hackathon in the world. It will support collaborative efforts involving several different firms and businesses.
The government of Estonia and Garage48, a startup hackathon series that turns ideas into working prototypes, recently organized an online event to deal with pressing issues related to the Coronavirus pandemic. Latvia and Lithuania have also carried out hackathons, which were supported by Swedbank.
Lotta Lovén, head of digital banking and IT projects at Swedbank, stated:
“In these turbulent times, it is vital that we join forces on a global level to find innovative solutions to help fight these challenges in an effective way.”
The global hackathon will be organized in 11 separate tracks. It has been motivated by the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Each of the tracks is an independent online hackathon. Centralized evaluations and conclusions will be drawn after the hackathons have been completed.
Swedbank is reportedly sponsoring the hackathon’s economy track, in order to encourage and support the development of new prototypes, concepts, ideas, and the use of the latest technology to help keep capital markets active during these challenging times.
Lovén noted:
“This hackathon movement was born in three of our four home markets, so it is very natural for us to support it, and we encourage both our employees, customers and peers to register and join the event.”
She added:
“By funding the organization of the Economy track, we not only dive into topics that will help our customers and industry through these unprecedented times, but the results will also support the local communities and the society as a whole.”
The Global Hack is being sponsored by several major organizations and firms, such as the European Commission, the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum, the Global Entrepreneurship Network, LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack, and TED.
