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'Reboot the Earth' Series Kicks Off in New York

The United Nations Office of Information Communications Technology (OICT) is thrilled to announce the successful launch of the first of five planned 'Reboot the Earth' climate hackathons on 1-2 May in New York City.  'Reboot the Earth' is a social coding series that brings together a diverse group of people from around the world to improve upon or build technology solutions that address the current climate crisis.

The focus of this year's series is on developing solutions aligned with achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The series is led by OICT in partnership with the United Nations Youth Office, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Digital Public Goods Alliance and Salesforce.

Over two days, students and climate experts joined open-source developers to create digital solutions for climate crises using open data, artificial intelligence (AI) and open-source technologies.

The participants tackled challenges in AI for Climate Resilience and AI for Climate-smart Agriculture and Drought Management, enhancing open-source programs for global use.

With mentor support, teams honed their prototypes and pitches, culminating in an award ceremony that celebrated their innovative contributions. 

Bernardo Mariano Jr, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer, OICT, was on hand, telling attendees:

“With the help of open-source software, artificial Intelligence and big data , we can build our capacity to encounter natural threads and improve the management of natural resources.”

Winning Solution

The winning solution, Inodai, selected by a panel of four judges, is an advanced, AI-driven platform designed to transform disaster resilience by providing predictive alerts, accessible disaster prep information and effective mitigation strategies.

The Inodai team's goal was to design a solution that empowers people with knowledge on when to act, what to do and where to go during looming disasters.

Front row (l & r): Inodai team members Luann Akaydin, My Heong and Stephanie Nguyen. Back row (l & r): Inodai team members Brian Komar, Ricardo Mirón Torres and Matthias Muehlbauer, and Anthony O'Mullane, Director, Policy Strategy and Governance Division (PSGD), OICT. 

The winners will present their solution at the OSPOs for Good Symposium (9-10 July 2024 in New York City), receive $10,000 and of support from the initiative partners.  

View all submitted ideas showcasing how participants used Tableau, Einstein Prediction Builder, Google Maps and Bots to create a data visualization and emergency guidance info-hub combining United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration trend data with real-time event streams from local 911 and emergency broadcast services. 

The locations and dates for the other events in the 2024 'Reboot the Earth' series are: