Hack
the Crisis
Berlin Edition

Thank you for your participation!

Thank you so much for your fantastic participation in the project “Hack The Crisis”! We have been amazed by the discussion of more than 90 submissions on the platorm as well as by your networking and collaboration efforts through our Slack-Workspace; throughout the project, we did our best to support you with advic and direct support. The results include a round table for mask production for makers, a data project analyzing sidewalk widths, open data set of delivery and pickup services and much more. In our short summary you can see that the submissions have declined since the end of May, which is why we are closing the participation phase of the project. We’ll keep the Slack Workspace open for the time being, however - you are very welcome to continue exchanging ideas and of course to push your projects forward!

We need your ideas!

How it works

Use our project platform to share your ideas and projects or to see what challenges others have identified. We’ll try our best help you find others interested in working on the same topics, as well as resources to support your efforts. We’re in direct contact with the public health authorities in Berlin as well as other experts, and we’ll work to make sure your projects and ideas are heard.

There is a vast range of possible actions our community can take to stop the spread of COVID-19 – and help society better cope with the current situation. These inlcude both analog and digital initiatives. We’re gathering ideas from various areas, like:

Information and communication
Social cohesion
Models, simulations and prognoses
Hardware (e.g., 3D printing, sensors, medical technology)
Education, colture and leisure
Economy and mobility

Who can participate?

Everyone! It doesn't matter what your academic or professional background is, and we're welcoming of individuals as well as teams. Perhaps you'll find some new collaborators on this platform. To boost possibilites for collaboration and cooperation, make use of our Slack chat for the exchange about projects, questions and challenges. Here you can get together as a team, work on solutions or discuss questions. We have set up one channel per category, but you are welcome to continue organizing independently..

Join the efforts!

Visit the project platform Join the Slack channel

Resources

Official information: The Berlin City Administration's official COVID-19 website
bürgeraktiv: Berlin helps! City portal with information on volunteer activities
Data sources Our collection of relevant data sources and other materials from Berlin
Corona Virus Tech Handbook Global collection of COVID19-related resources (Google Doc)
WirVsVirus Hackathon List of projects from the German WirVsVirus-Hackathon

Partners

We'd love to add more partners to this initiative – reach out to us at hackthecrisis@citylab-berlin.org

FAQ

Is this another hackathon?

No. Fighting the virus is a marathon, not a sprint. We want to lay the groundwork for sustainable collaborations and help make great ideas happen.

What kinds of ideas are you looking for?

We don't have concrete expectations of what we're looking for. We've identified a few categories in advance in order to give the platform some structure, but please feel free to work outside of these categories. As for the ideas, they can be as big or small as you like, as long as you're interested in discussing them with the broader community.

Can I submit already existing projects?

Yes, please! It is also possible to submit projects which you have not initiiated yourself, if you find them relevant.

Can I get financial support for my idea from your side?

We are working on it. The situation is ongoing and we do everything we can to support your projects. We keep you posted!

Do you need mentors or sponsors?

Definitely! We're appreciative of every possible form of support. If you're interested in supporting us, send an e-mail to hackthecrisis@citylab-berlin.org.

What other financial support is available?

Using the platform betterplace, you can easily collect donations for your charitable project. No matter if you are a private person, an association or an aid organisation: everyone can use the platform and benefit from the expertise of the largest German donation platform: www.betterplace.org/c/spenden-sammeln

I'd liked to commercialize my idea – can I protect my intellectual property rights on the platform?

We certainly think openness is the best way to approach these problems, but we don't mandate that all ideas adhere to this. We claim no ownership or exclusive rights to ideas shared on the platform.

Hackthe CrisisBerlin Edition