An interesting solidarity initiative during the COVID-19 crisis has been developed by the Community of Madrid t in collaboration with numerous organizations for the #MadridVenceAlVirus hackathon. Among these organizations we can find a MediaLab Prado; the collaboration platform MIDE – Madrid Innovation Driven Ecosystem; the Madrid Institute for Advanced Software Studies (iMdea Software); the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and public and private universities of the Community of Madrid.
This specific “Hackathon” was a meeting between professionals and amateurs of software development, who organise themselves for a few days to develop specific software solutions that will work to improve a piece of knowledge and always from a collaborative perspective.
7,400 people from 49 countries participated in the virtual hackathon, 22 of them from the European continent, 9 from North America, 8 from Asia, 8 from Latin America and 1 from Africa. The team that has supervised the 244 submitted proposals delivered on the virtual platform, has been made up of 50 mentors and experts. The team has finally selected the 15 best proposals.
In this case, the #MadridVenceAlVirus hackathon took place online on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5, 2020, with the aim of finding 15 proposals that help counteract the negative effects of COVID-19 on people’s health; facilitate their care in the face of a new pandemic, avoid situations of social isolation and improve work processes to adapt existing jobs to the new reality.
According to the criteria of mentors and experts, some of the most interesting proposals were the following:
Helpacket, which aims to tackle the lack of supply of sanitary material, connects the supply and demand of material between manufacturers, users, and people who are at home producing different types of sanitary material.
The electronic nose is a device similar to a breathalyzer to detect biomarkers of viral infection, which allows rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.
Smart Dyspnea, which proposes the early identification of the symptom of dyspnea to avoid saturating the health system
Oxygen 19, proposes home oxygen therapy for mild COVID-19 patients who do not require hospitalization so that these positions can be used for people in more serious conditions.
Access and learn about the initiative here:
To learn more about the selected projects: