Yerevan, 01 July 2018 - The UNDP Wildfire Management project, in collaboration with UNDP Impact Aim Venture Accelerator and the Innovative Solutions and Technologies Center (ISTC) organized a two-day Climate Tech Hackathon.

The Hackathon was the first of its kind in Armenia to create innovative solutions to overcome challenges in forestry and agricultural spheres caused by climate change.

The event was following a preliminary event on May, the Climate Change Thinkathon, which with the support of field experts helped to define the key challenges, which were discussed during the 24-hour Hackathon.

After the report of the leading field experts, the participating teams presented technological solutions to current environmental challenges using a variety of datasets.

The scope of the challenges facing the agriculture included issues such as the calculation and prediction of agricultural losses caused by natural hazards, an online platform that facilitates the path to market for farmers, efficient usage of water resources, smart packaging, online advisory services for farmers, as well as development of local smart systems and greenhouse technologies.

Innovative solutions in the field of forestry include a number of issues of concern to the public: monitoring tools of illegal logging, new technologies for reforestation, as well as forest fire solutions, prevention, and risk assessment.

As a result of the two-day Hackathon, the following ideas were announced winners:

The Best solution in agriculture (2000 USD) prize was awarded to Smart City and Forest Berg teams;

The Best solution in forestry (2000 USD) prize was handed over Datathon team;

The Most Innovative Idea (1000 USD) prize was given to team members of Baskcleaner.

The Hackathon was organized within the framework of Climate Change Technology Accelerator – one of the key components of “Addressing climate change impact through enhanced capacity for wildfires management in Armenia” UNDP-Russia Trust Fund for Development project.