IBM's 2020 Call for Code Challenge invites developers from around the world to submit their open source technology solutions to climate change. In the past, the tech company sought practical applications for disaster relief, which led to a flood-proof WiFi network and a tool for monitoring firefighter health.
"The first two years we challenged this community to help mitigate the challenges of natural disasters, so it was after the fact," Bob Lord, IBM senior vice president of cognitive applications and developer ecosystems, told Cheddar.
Now IBM wants solutions that get out in front of climate change, a shift in focus partially inspired by the company's partnership with the United Nations. The international body has called for a "global reality check" on climate change and has put out a rallying cry for fresh solutions.
Lord said this pushed IBM to pivot toward using the challenge to better understand climate change, whether that means tracking the weather or tracking our behaviors.
"What kind of information do you need? How do you change your behaviors on a daily basis to halt the challenges that we're starting to see with climate change?" Lord said.
Another goal for the challenge is to help collate and organize the data sets related to climate change, he added.
IBM will provide participants with access to its full stack of open source software, including Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, and IBM Blockchain.
The challenge is not just about sourcing new ideas, Lord said, but implementing them in the real world. In addition to the $200,000 prize money for the winning team, IBM provides guidance and hands-on support to projects, which so far has yielded results for past winners.
Project Owl, which won in 2018, has begun to deploy its emergency Wi-Fi networks in disaster zones. Prometeo, the firefighter monitoring device that won in 2019, is in the process of testing its device before rolling it out for wider use.
"Every year it sort of evolves based on what we learned in the year one and year two," Lord said. "We will move the topic where the community wants to go, and right now climate change is a really relevant topic for all of us."
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
