IBM Launches 2021 Call For Code Global Challenge
March 23, 2021
The Weather Channel
BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE - MARCH 4: A woman pumps water from a communal borehole on March 4, 2021 in the Pumula South suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Pumula South was one of the suburbs worst affected by the city council's 2019 water-shedding exercise, with some residents having had no access to piped water for the past 13 months. (Photo by KB Mpofu/Getty Images)
The competition was announced Monday morning by IBM, along with Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation.
IBM is the parent company of weather.com and The Weather Company.
In its fourth year, the contest has generated more than 15,000 applications from 400,000 developers across 179 nations.
“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and we must apply our collective ingenuity and cutting-edge technologies to make a lasting difference,” Ruth Davis, director of Call for Code for IBM, said in a news release.
"I encourage every developer and innovator around the world to seize this opportunity through Call for Code to change our climate trajectory.”
IBM works with winning teams to incubate and deploy their solutions in the real world, Davis said. The winning team also receives $200,000.
The launch coincided with the United Nations' World Water Day, which aims to bring attention to water problems around the world, including lack of clean drinking water and other sanitation issues.
Some 2.2 billion people worldwide don't have access to safely managed water supplies, according to the World Health Organization.
Clean water and sanitation is one of three specific focus areas in this year's Call for Code competition. The other two are hunger, along with responsible production and green consumption.
Clark said those three themes are key to combating climate change.
Last year's winner, an agricultural app named Agrolly, supports small farmers by providing weather forecasts, climate trends and other data to help better inform their decisions and defend their businesses against climate change. Agrolly has so far been tested by more than 500 rural farmers across Mongolia, India and Brazil and is now moving on to its next phase of development.
Agrolly's founders are a team of four people, each from a different country and each with different backgrounds. In a recent interview with weather.com, the team encouraged anyone with an interest in solving a problem to join Call for Code.
"Yesterday it was four of us dreaming and today we are doing something really meaningful at a global level," said Chimegsaikhan (Chimka) Munkhbayar, head of sales and marketing in Asia for Agrolly.
Visit IBM Developer
to learn more about Call for Code.
Aryana Sayeed, Afghanistan’s well-known singer and women’s rights advocate, has been awarded the 2025 High Note Global Prize, an international honor supported by United Nations Human Rights, for her song “We Believe in Hope.”
The uplifting “We Believe in Hope” anthem by award-winning composer Jeff Beal, renowned Afghan artist and advocate Aryana Sayeed, and lyricist Joan Beal was inspired by the true story of Afghanistan’s courageous first all-female robotics team.
Joint Statement from United Nations Human Rights, the University of Oxford, the International Universities Climate Alliance, and the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance
Students and educators globally will come together virtually on 6 June for the Right Here Right Now Global Youth Climate Summit, hosted by Saïd Business School and UN Human Rights.
Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit to bring together global audiences online and in-person in June 2025 On World Environment Day (5 June), universities from around the world will host a global plenary discussion on human rights and climate change over 24 hours The University of Oxford announces a packed schedule of local events and activities, including public lectures, panel dis cussions, photography exhibits, and interactive workshops
In its eighth year, Call for Code presents a series of SDG-focused hackathons throughout the year, kicking off with a competition to build AI agents
Winning teams from Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Persistent, and independent consultants developed AI-powered solutions to help improve equitable access to essential resources and opportunities
Khatia Buniatishvili, Felukah and Fally Ipupa performed intimate concert at the Recording Academy's New York Townhouse to help raise awareness for climate action
Celebrities Billie Jean King, Barbra Streisand, Neil Young, Ziggy Marley, Carole King, Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper, Pierce Brosnan, Jack Black, Laura Pausini, and more unite with United Nations Human Rights and leading universities to support upcoming global climate justice summit and call world attention to the human rights implications of the climate crisis.
© Copyright 2025 / David Clark Cause, Inc.