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MIT Sloan

MIT Sloan Organizes a Hackathon to Help Latin America Contain Coronavirus

The MIT Sloan is going to organize a hackathon, where technology experts will be tasked with developing solutions to contain the coronavirus in Latin America.

The 48-hours virtual hackathon is scheduled to begin on June 19.

Considering a statement from MIT Sloan, the hackathon is designed to help the region figure out a way out of the crisis.

Some US technology firms, including Amazon Web Services and IBM, and a few Latin American universities, such as Tecnológico de Monterrey and Universidad de Santiago de Chile, have agreed to support the hackathon as collaborators.

To begin with, participants will pitch ideas and then form teams to hone in on key problems and devise solutions, including proof of concepts, prototypes, and a preliminary vision for execution.

A day later, teams will connect with mentors and refine their solutions. In the end, the victorious teams will go ahead and co-develop and implement the solution with the support of the collaborators.

“…..We’ve created a structure that allows thousands of participants from a multitude of backgrounds and nations to form teams, ideate on solutions, and put them into action,” says Alfonso Martinez, an event organizer.

Coronavirus sneaked into Latin American sometime in February, with the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo being the first to report a confirmed case. The virus has since spread across the region, claiming thousands of lives and leaving millions of people jobless.

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The region’s informal economies were unprepared to confront the pandemic. Adding to the trouble is misinformation about the virus, say experts.

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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