The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) is set to run two Hackathon Challenges in September and October 2021 as part of its 20th anniversary commemorations, the parastatal has said.
The two events, which will be conducted virtually in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held under the theme “#POTRAZ@20Challenge”.
The first Hackathon will focus on a COVID-19 sub-theme whilst the second one will focus on an agricultural sub-theme. Explaining the themes in a statement released to media earlier today POTRAZ said;
“The first Hackathon will run from 27 September 2021 to 01 October 2021, and will focus on the COVID-19 Pandemic. This Hackathon will run under the sub-theme “#TowardsADigitalEconomyInACovid-19Zim.”
This Hackathon will be aimed at proffering sustainable solutions that make use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to mitigate the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic on different human endeavours in the health, education, agriculture, industry and commercial sectors.
Applications aimed at minimizing the spread, coordinate response mechanisms, and promote public awareness, of the COVID-19 Pandemic, will also be considered for support under the first 2021 Hackathon.
“The second 2021 Hackathon is expected to run from 04 to 08 October 2021 and will focus on proffering solutions aimed at solving the problem of low average agricultural yields in the country, and will run under the sub-theme “#TowardsVision2030WithAgric-Tech.”
This second Hackathon comes on the background of a 2019 study by the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) which found that the country’s average maize production was 0.64mt/ha, whilst South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Kenya produce an average 5.3mt/ha, 2.8mt/ha, 1,67mt/ha and 1.66mt/ha respectively.
As a result, the hackathon seeks to bring about urgent and sustainable interventions by the introduction of technologies that address the root cause of low average yields.
