Swedbank is sponsoring the initiative The Global Hack. The event will take place April 9-12 and aspires to be the world’s largest online hackathon. The ambition is to encourage collaboration across companies, sectors and competencies on a global level, to find pioneering business and digital solutions that will help fight the COVID-19 challenges.

Two weeks ago Estonia, with Garage48 in the forefront, started a ripple effect by organising an online hackathon to tackle issues related to COVID-19. Soon after, Latvia and Lithuania followed suit with hackathons that were partly supported by Swedbank. For the upcoming global hackathon event, Swedbank is empowering the Economy track of the hackathon.

“In these turbulent times, it is vital that we join forces on a global level to find innovative solutions to help fight these challenges in an effective way,” said Lotta Lovén, head of Digital Banking & IT at Swedbank. “We are very happy for the opportunity to empower The Global Hack’s Economy track.”

The Global Hack is organised in 11 tracks inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Each of the tracks is a separate global online hackathon, that will all join in the end of the event for centralised evaluations and conclusions. The hackathon is a sprint-like event where participants team up and create solutions to real-life challenges in an intense period, usually 24 to 48 hours. Using creativity, expertise, technology and mentoring, the weekend will result in prototypes, fresh new concepts and innovative use of technology.

“This hackathon movement was born in three of our four home markets, so it is very natural for us to support it, and we encourage both our employees, customers and peers to register and join the event,” added Lovén. “By funding the organisation of the Economy track, we not only dive into topics that will help our customers and industry through these unprecedented times, but the results will also support the local communities and the society as a whole.”   

The Global Hack is supported by several global organisations and companies, including the European Commission, The World Health Organisation, The World Economic Forum, The Global Entrepreneurship Network, LinkedIn, TED, Reddit and Slack.