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COVID-19 INSPIRE Hackathon 2020

covid_inspire_hackathon_2020

The COVID-19 INSPIRE Hackathon 2020 was a fully virtual event organized by Plan4all in collaboration with the Czech Center for Science and Society and supported by various H2020 projects, including SmartAgriHubs. The hackathon aimed to develop and share agri-food economy solutions to balance the imperatives of the present with the demands of the future. It addressed challenges such as facilitating access to data and services for digital innovation in the agri-food sectors, educating individuals to support agri-food businesses during the crisis, forecasting regional food supplies, mobilizing agricultural workforce, and matching supply and demand for fresh produce in decentralized settings.

🧩 Challenges

The hackathon featured 13 innovation experiments (IEs), each tackling specific issues related to agriculture and food security during the COVID-19 pandemic:

  1. Best Practices Catalogue for EBAG Distance Education: Developing an open digital catalogue of best practices for eco-, bio-, agro-, geo- (EBAG) distance education.

  2. Atlas of Regional Specialities: Creating an atlas to showcase regional food specialties, promoting local products and traditions.

  3. Citizen Science Network for Peer-to-Peer Maps Sharing: Establishing a network for sharing complex map compositions among citizen scientists.

  4. Rural Attractiveness Visualization: Visualizing factors that contribute to the attractiveness of rural areas to support regional development.

  5. WhiteBoard - Future Collaborative Maps: Developing a collaborative platform for map-making and data capture.

  6. Atlas of the Best Practices – Polirural Cases: Compiling best practices from the Polirural project to address rural challenges.

  7. Blockchain Technology for Food Security in Africa: Enhancing tracking and tracing of food items throughout the value chain using blockchain technology.

  8. Digitalization of Indigenous Knowledge in African Agriculture: Preserving and utilizing indigenous agricultural knowledge to foster food security.

  9. EO for Monitoring Regional Supplies and Deviations: Using Earth Observation data to monitor regional food supplies and detect deviations.

  10. Calculation of Agro-Climatic Factors: Calculating agro-climatic factors to forecast regional food supplies.

  11. Maps Sharing – QGIS Plugin and HSLayers-NG Demonstration: Demonstrating tools for sharing GIS-related data using open technologies.

  12. Atlas of Social Enterprises: Creating an atlas to present solutions to problems arising from COVID-19 through social enterprises.

  13. Calculation of Agro-Climatic Factors – Potential Source of Information for Forecasting Regional Food Supplies: Calculating agro-climatic factors to describe areas of interest comprehensively, using various datasets and algorithms.

🏆 Results

After more than two months of collaborative work, the hackathon concluded with a final presentation of results and an awards ceremony. The top three challenges recognised were:

  • 1st Place: IE #13 Calculation of Agro-Climatic Factors – Led by Karel Jedlička and Michal Kepka, this project focused on calculating agro-climatic factors to forecast regional food supplies.

  • 2nd Place: IE #8 Digitalization of Indigenous Knowledge in African Agriculture – Led by Antoine Kantiza and Tuula Löytty, this initiative aimed to preserve and utilise indigenous agricultural knowledge to enhance food security.

  • 3rd Place: IE #6 Atlas of the Best Practices – Polirural Cases – Led by Pavel Kogut and Petr Horák, this project compiled best practices from the Polirural project to address rural challenges.

🎓 Webinars

To support participants, a series of webinars was conducted, covering various topics:

  • Business Plan Development: Guidance on formulating effective business plans, including lean canvas, TRL, SWOT analysis, market analysis, and Gantt charts.

  • Collaborative Map-Making: Introduction to the Map Whiteboard tool for collaborative map-making and data capture.

  • Atlas of Best Practices: Presentation of challenges using the Atlas of Best Practices to address COVID-19-related issues.

  • EBAG Distance Education: Discussion on responsible research and innovation approaches in eco-, bio-, agro-, geo- education.

  • Agro-Climatic Factors Calculation: Methods for calculating agro-climatic factors and their application in the agri-food sector.

  • EO for Monitoring Regional Supplies: Utilizing Earth Observation data to monitor regional food supplies and detect deviations.

  • Rural Attractiveness Visualization: Exploring factors contributing to rural attractiveness and their visualization.

  • Maps Sharing Tools: Demonstration of QGIS Plugin and HSLayers-NG for sharing GIS-related data.

  • Digitization of Indigenous Knowledge: Discussion on preserving and utilizing indigenous agricultural knowledge in Africa.

🏢 Organizers and Supporters

The hackathon was organized by Plan4all in collaboration with the Czech Center for Science and Society and supported by various H2020 projects and organizations, including:

  • SmartAgriHubs
  • EO4Agri
  • GODAN
  • MDPI
  • CzechInvest
  • RDA CZ
  • Liverur
  • Polirural
  • EUXDAT
  • SIEUSOIL
  • AFarCloud
  • SmartAfriHub