Last week as part of the
Biennial of the Americas the
Posner Center for International Development hosted the Posner Poverty Hack, a three-day hackathon aimed at solving international development issues in developing nations. CU Peru won, partnering with Quick Left. and Chromedia to develop tools to help educate health care providers in Peru.
The hackathon, from July 15 to 17, challenged 11 hackathon teams to create solutions to challenges faced by three of the Posner Center's tenants. The tenants: CU Peru, Grassroots Global Development Foundation (GGDF) and International Development Enterprises (iDE), were competing for the $5,000 award -- along with additional prizes from Quick Left and Chromedia -- to help them develop and implement a technology-based solution to one of their core issues.
CU Peru wanted to use mobile technology to increase communication between health care providers and patients. GGDF wanted to find ways technology can aid in post-disaster recovery in Los Cabos, B.C.S., Mexico and iDE wanted to find ways to finance a solar water pump it designed. The center created 100 spots for organizations to participate on one of 15 hackathon teams. The competition was juried by representatives from Colorado's Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT), Galvanize, aWhere, iTriage, The Denver Post, the Northeast Denver Housing Center and CauseLabs.
"CauseLabs is excited to spark solutions to these specific poverty challenges by maximizing the hackathon model," said T.J. Cook, CEO of the Denver-based company that builds tools to impact people. "We've wanted to collaborate on an event like this for a long time." Quick Left and Chromedia will help CU Peru develop ways to facilitate telecommunication between health facilities and community health agents to connect the Upper Napo health system.
The hackathon was sponsored by the Biennial of the Americas, CauseLabs, iTriage, Peak Creative, the Global Accelerator Network, MillerCoors, Wedgies.com, KIND Snacks, Lyft, Denver B-Cycle, King Soopers, Justin's, 34 Degrees, Marley Coffee, Coyote Gold Margaritas, and Pekoe Sip House.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com.
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