More than 200 participants responded the call of Hack the Crisis Albania as individuals and teams. The activity was organised due to the support of more than 30 national and international partner institutions.
This activity started as a movement in Estonia to find solutions for the COVID-19 crisis, Hack the Crisis turned international and during this weekend took part in Albania.
During the weekend 3-5 April the community of the technology in Albania started a mission to develop emergency and innovative solutions for this global crisis.
In Albania Hack the Crisis was organised by EU for Innovation, Coolab, Crazy Town and Garage48 with the support of ICTSmedia and its network, such as Uplift, ICTSlab and PcWorld.al.
What turned this Hackathon into special, was it’s format, which was realised online, using the latest video technology and the coordination platforms online.
The activity took part on Friday at 17:00hrs with an online video-conference at Zoom and Slack. We were honoured with the participation of the Ambassador of EU in Albania, Mr. Luigi Soreca and the Municipality of States for the Protection of Entrepreneurship, Mr. Eduard Shalsi.
Encouraged words for this initiative were stated by Mr. Soreca and Mr. Shalsi. “The whole world together,” said Mr. Soreca, emphasizing the necessity of initiatives such as Hack the Crisis to get us all together in these hard times of social distancing.
“A concrete and hopeful idea will not only give you a price, but will also help hundreds of others in this tough situation, turning us all into winners,” said Mr. Shalsi. He stated that he is optimistic and full of hope that this activity will have a great impact.
On the first day the teams were formed and they shared their ideas and identified the problems that will be addressed in the days that follow.
The participating teams in the competition were organised in three categories: Saving Lives headed by Sara Usinger, Helping Communities headed by Arlind Haxhiaj and Helping Businesses headed by Mikko Korpela.
On Saturday the teams started the One-on-one Appointments with the trainers at 10:00 and continued until 18:00. During this period tested their ideas with the mentors and the other participants.
Which is the need that you will choose and who are the consumers that will benefit your solution, are the questions that the teams answered during Saturday.
Hack the Crisis was organised by Zoom and Slack platforms from 17:00 of April the 3rduntil 18:00 of April 5th.
The participants should develop ideas that could turn into a prototype during 48 hours to help during the crisis of COVID-19.
The best solutions and products were selected on Sunday, April 5thby a jury composed by: Sara Usinger of EU for Innovation; Toni Pienonen of Crazy Town Oy; Florensa Haxhi of the Primeminister’s Office of the Republic of Albania; Bora Muzhaqi, adviser of the Minister of States for the Protection of the Entrepreneurship and Arjan Ymeri of OFICINA.
