Innovation in Times of COVID-19: Winners of ‘Hack the Crisis Albania Announced

TIRANA, April 6

A special COVID-19 focused hackathon set up jointly by EU for Innovation, Coolab, Crazy Town, and Garage48 has shortlisted three winners from over 200 individuals that responded to the initiative that focused on building solutions to deal with the pandemic.
Submitted innovations were reviewed for their feasibility and impact on solving the crisis and dealing with the aftermath. The hackathon was open for ideas and products in categories such as saving lives, saving communities, and saving businesses.

The event took place throughout the weekend on slack and zoom. Thirty teams and 75 individuals had the opportunity to share their ideas and to further develop them with the support of over 40 mentors.

The winners of Hack the Crisis Albania

BTC/ IRIS/ Shkolla.Online

BTC: “Donate through delivery, app”; an initiative that aims to support people in need during these daring times and create a sense of solidarity in the community. Donations could come from supermarkets, drugstores, bookshops, businesses, etc.
Team:
Lisian Roseni – Team contact; Lecturer & Researcher
Arsen Mema – Accounting;
Anis Slimani – Researcher;
Dionisa Margjini – Business Administration

IRIS – this is a platform to connect people with therapists, a platform to reach people and affect society in the right way.
Team:
Mario Alla – Python Developer
Hysen Ndregjoni- Python Developer
Rei Arifi – Sys Admin

Shkolla Online: A content aggregator/organizer platform that connects teachers, students and schools; an online platform to help teachers reach their students, organize their content and help students find lectures easily.
Team:
Albi Cungu, Epoka University, Tirana Albania
Bajram Cokaj, Epoka University, Shkoder Albania
Daren Tuzi, Tampere University, Finland

Awards included:
Money prize for the top three teams to further develop their ideas in the upcoming weeks. Guidance & roadmap on how to proceed & improve the idea/ product.
Service Prizes to the top teams offered by some of the event Partners.
The right to participate at the EU for Innovation boot-camp
Introduction to relevant people & [inter]national networking and linkages

The event was part of the international ”Hack the Crisis” movement initiated by Garage48, Accelerate Estonia and the whole startup community in Estonia, in March 2020.

Source/Photo Credit: EU for Innovation