A Whole New World: Post-Covid Hackathon Looks To The Future

 Hackathon brought blockchain experts around the world together to create new open solutions to the challenges of the post-Covid19 era

Gibraltar Finance was delighted to be a part of and support the Post-Covid Hackathon, which sought to create new and innovative solutions to challenges society will face.

Gibraltar Finance, as part of HM Government of Gibraltar, was proud to be an official partner of the Post-Covid Hackathon. Co-organised by tech skills-matching platform Indorse and Coinsilium, an investor and advisor supporting early-stage blockchain technology companies and the digital token economy, the global initiative brought a number of teams together from across the world to create new open-source solutions with the intention of overcoming the challenges of the post-Covid19 era. With a specific focus on the health, economic, social, and privacy challenges confronting the post-Covid world, the hackathon attracted more than 400 participants, as well as over 200 experts across various industries who provided their expertise.

Over the course of three months, participants had the opportunity to collaborate and create solutions to existing problems using innovative technology. As part of their submissions, competing teams had to include a prototype which solves one of the listed use cases provided upon entry using blockchain technology. Teams were also required to include a slide deck explaining the prototype/solution, along with a Git Repository outlining the code for their solution. Upon completion, shortlisted teams were introduced to the investor and community partners to further their idea. 

The winners included projects which tackled complex societal challenges such as health, privacy, and security, including:

• DistributedTown — A network of interconnected, self-sovereign communities, which aims to build a new financial ecosystem supported by self-sustainable (and self-sovereign) community-hubs; 
• Saarthi — Your Decentralized Helping Hand, takes a multi-dimensional approach towards helping those in need of financial, medical, or computational resources; 
• CryptoForests — An app which hopes to connect citizens interested in the conservation of trees to communities across the globe that can maintain these trees utilising blockchain technology.

Commenting on the success of the event, The Hon Albert Isola MP, Gibraltar’s Minister for Digital and Financial Services, said, “This year’s Hackathon brought together some of the brightest minds in the emerging tech industry who are pioneering the next digital revolution. As the global effort to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine begins in earnest, hope is on the horizon and many will now be looking ahead to what a post-pandemic world looks like. We must work together to confront the challenges that lie ahead and the Post-Covid Hackathon is an excellent starting point. The ideas and initiatives that have emerged across the financial, privacy, and societal industries pave the way for global communities to adapt to life in a post-Covid era. We were very happy to play our small part in the furthering of this thinking and development with our partners. ”