Natural disasters as we all know are the consequences of events triggered by natural hazards that overwhelm local response capacity and seriously affect the social and economic development of a region. There is basically no human control over natural disaster. We cannot stop these natural disasters but what is in our hands is to be prepared for these. Also there are a lot of ways through which we can minimize the damage caused due to these natural disasters. Traditionally, natural disasters have been seen as situations that create challenges and problems mainly of a humanitarian nature.
There is no way to prevent or avert these natural disasters, though scientists do claim to have found the ways to predict these natural disasters but at most of the times they have failed to predict natural disasters causing some serious destruction. During the last few years, there has been an increase in the reports of natural disasters as well as destruction caused due to these disasters.
The tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes, which hit parts of Asia and the Americas in 2004/2005 are some examples of natural disasters in past few years and floods in the parts of Uttarakhand is a recent example of the destruction caused due to these natural calamities.
These calamities have led to displacement of a lot of people and heavy loss of life as well as property was also reported. Not just these few cases, natural disasters can be of many types which may include volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, foods, drought, landslides, or earthquakes etc. From past many years there has been a constant debate on the topic of natural disasters and the human role in the same.
A lot of human practices as well as rapidly growing developmental activities have been blame blamed for constant rise of these natural disasters like floods, hurricanes and tsunamis in past few years. One of the major causes of natural disasters has been attributed to the global warming, which has sparked debate analyzing what the effects may be. The reality at present is that we are experiencing an increasing number of natural disasters, and disaster preparedness is an area still to develop. Also along with the disaster preparedness there is a need to keep a check on developmental activities so that we could have a sustained environment.
Types of Natural Disasters
↳ Tsunamis
↳ Earthquakes
↳ Avalanches
↳ Volcanoes
↳ Landslides
↳ Floods
↳ Droughts
↳ Forest fires
↳ Hurricanes
↳ Thunderstorms
↳ Tornadoes
↳ Winter storms
↳ Heat WavesWhat is Call for Code?
IBM has announced its Call For Code initiative, inviting startups and developers to solve problems related to natural disasters using cloud, AI, IoT, and blockchain platforms.
Call For Code was launched on May 24 by IBM chairman, president, and CEO Ginni Rometty during a keynote address at Viva Technology in Paris. The software giant has also committed to investing $30 Mn in the initiative in the next five years.
Developer teams can answer the call and register interest to compete in Call for Code, which begins officially on June 18 and closes on August 31.
How can people participate?
Call for Code invites developers to create new applications aimed at reducing vulnerability by mitigating disaster risk over the long run, forecasting impending threats to improve precautionary measures in the short term, responding to medical needs during the disaster, and improving the overall resiliency of communities to rebuild health services in the wake of major disruptions.
The $30 million, five-year investment award unites developers across the world to solve the planet’s pressing issues caused by natural disasters.
One team will win the first annual Call for Code Global Prize, $200.000 USD supported by the United Nations Human Rights Office and the American Red Cross’ International team.
The winner will also earn several other awards that foster adoption of their application as an open source project (through the The Linux Foundation), scale its impact, and accelerate deployment in areas of greatest need.
First and second runner-up will receive : $25,000 USD cash prize Invitation to the Call for Code Global Prize Event & Long-term open source project support from The Linux Foundation.
Winners will be announced at the Call for Code Global Prize Event and Concert, which will benefit UN Human Rights and the American Red Cross, and be held on October 13th, the United Nations International Day for Disaster Reduction.
Developers can learn more about this initiative at the Call for Code site. In addition, IBM will hold hundreds of events over the next three months in 50 cities around the world—San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, and more—to help global developers address the complex problems stemming from natural disasters.
It’s my earnest hope that every developer, in some way, chooses to answer the Call for Code.
To get more insight into how critical of a moment this is for the developer profession, I encourage you to read the thoughts of IBM’s Vice President of Developer Advocacy, Open Source, and Technology, Angel Diaz. follow this link to participate in the challenge - https://ibm.co/2L4Gj9Q
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