Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA, HP and the World Bank, through their initiative titled Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK), will bring together thousands of experts and volunteers in over 18 locations around the globe to collaborate on applications with proven impact on the developing world in the area of climate change adaptation and disaster risk management.
12 May 2011: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA, HP and the World Bank, through their initiative titled “Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK),” will bring together thousands of people in over 18 locations worldwide, on 4-5 June 2011, to create open source e-solutions to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation challenges.
Random Hacks of Kindness is a community of innovation focused on developing practical open source solutions to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation challenges. Events are planned in Hartford, Philadelphia, Seattle and Mountain View in the US, as well as in: Toronto, Canada; Aarhus, Denmark; Basel, Switzerland; Berlin, Germany; Bangalore, India; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Kampala, Uganda; Lusaka, Zambia; Melbourne, Australia; Nairobi, Kenya; Trento, Italy; and Santiago, Chile.
During past events, experts and volunteers have collaborated on applications with proven impact on the developing world. For example, the World Bank is piloting CHASM, a software for visualizing landslide risk, in the Caribbean. Other apps have received support and interest from governments, NGOs and international organizations around the world. [World Bank Press Release]