Esri and IBM Team Up to Take on Climate Change with Call for Code
Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced it is joining the fourth annual Call for Code Global Challenge. Created by David Clark Cause and launched in partnership with IBM, United Nations Human Rights, and the Linux Foundation, Call for Code is designed to make an immediate and lasting global impact on humanitarian issues, using open-source-powered technology. In this year’s competition, software developers and innovators around the world will take on climate change with open-source software, including Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, and data from The Weather Company.
Since Call for Code was launched in 2018, more than 400,000 developers and problem solvers across 179 nations have participated, creating more than 15,000 applications. This year’s competition focuses on three sub-themes related to combating climate change: water availability and consumption, food production and delivery, and economic production and consumption.
The winning team will receive $200,000 and support from the IBM Service Corps, technical experts, and partners—to develop their technology, make their code available for anyone to use in open-source, and deploy their solution on the ground in communities around the world.
For its role in the Call for Code Global Challenge, Esri has made its geospatial analytics software and resources available to each participant, including the following:
- A free ArcGIS Platform developer account.
- A $100 voucher applied to the participant’s ArcGIS account, allowing them to kick-start their solution with cloud hosting, analytical processing, and location services (This is available to the first 100 participants.)
- Access to dedicated community support where participants can connect with mentors that can help them accelerate app development.
"Esri has just released a location platform as a service product that makes it easy for software developers to access geospatial technology," said David Cardella, Product Manager—Developer Technologies, Esri. "Some of the most exciting ways users are putting our software to work is in creating apps that help meet challenges related to climate change. We are excited to introduce our flexible, scalable location services that make content and capabilities available to developers who are building the next generation of geospatial solutions."
For more information and to learn how to get started on the Call for Code Global Challenge with Esri’s offer, visit the ArcGIS Blog. Watch Kareem Yusuf, General Manager, AI Applications and Blockchain, IBM and Jack Dangermond, Founder and President, Esri, discuss their partnership and the importance of technology to address climate change here.
“We are excited to work with Esri and our global ecosystem throughout the 2021 Call for Code Global Challenge to drive, incubate, and deploy solutions that will combat climate change,” said Willie M. Tejada, IBM Chief Developer Advocate and General Manager ISV/Build Ecosystem. “Climate change is a monumental challenge and demands the participation of world-renowned humanitarian experts, business leaders, and technology partners like Esri to have an immediate and lasting effect.”
What makes Call for Code unique is the impact it is making on the ground through deployments in communities around the world. Last year’s winning solution, Agrolly, was designed to support small farmers by providing climate and crop predictions and recommendations. The agriculture industry is one of the most vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on rainfall and temperature. Since October, the Agrolly team has expanded the solution to new markets and provided hands-on training to more than 500 rural farmers in Mongolia, India, and Brazil, who are testing and using the app to fight the effects of climate change.
About Esri
Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations globally and in over 200,000 institutions in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com.
Copyright © 2021 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.
About Call for Code Global Challenge
Developers have revolutionized the way people live and interact with virtually everyone and everything. Where most people see challenges, developers see possibilities. That's why David Clark, the CEO of David Clark Cause, created Call for Code in 2018, and launched it alongside Founding Partner IBM and Charitable Partner UN Human rights. Since then, Call for Code has scaled to include an annual University Challenge in addition to regional prizes and the creation of Call for Code for Racial Justice. This multi-year global initiative is a rallying cry to developers to use their mastery of the latest technologies to drive positive and long-lasting change across the world through code. Call for Code Global Challenge winning solutions are further developed, incubated, and deployed as sustainable open source projects to ensure they can drive positive change. To learn more about past winners and their progress, visit IBM Developer.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210511006031/en/
Contact information
Jo Ann Pruchniewski
Public Relations, Esri
Mobile: 301-693-2643
Email: jpruchniewski@esri.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
HCLTech Signs Strategic Collaboration Agreement With AWS to Accelerate Financial Services Industry Transformation With AI and Core Modernization25.11.2025 12:30:00 EET | Press release
HCLTech, a leading global technology company, today announced that it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate innovation in the financial services industry through autonomous, AI-powered solutions. The collaboration brings together HCLTech’s deep domain expertise and AWS to deliver transformative outcomes for financial services organizations. “We understand that a digital journey is of strategic importance and the need of the hour is for a trusted partner that can engage across the transformation lifecycle,” said Srinivasan Seshadri, Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Financial Services at HCLTech. “Financial institutions face increasing pressure to modernize their systems, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and meet sustainability requirements and many struggle with legacy infrastructure, siloed data, and complex regulatory requirements. Our collaboration with AWS addresses these challenges by providing proven solutions a
Bridgepoint to Partner With ht.digital, the Leading Digital Asset Transparency Layer25.11.2025 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Bridgepoint, one of the world’s leading mid-market investors, today announced that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in ht.digital, a leading, London-headquartered provider of digital asset assurance and technology solutions. The investment will be made by Bridgepoint Development Capital V – Bridgepoint’s lower middle-market fund focused on supporting fast-growing businesses across Europe. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251125907148/en/ Digital assets – including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenised financial instruments, all built upon blockchain technology – are an increasingly important part of the global financial system. As adoption accelerates, regulation is driving vast demand for independent, institutional-grade assurance services to strengthen transparency and safeguard investors. ht.digital is the leading digital asset transparency layer. From proof of reserves and attestations to fin
Thredd Signs Landmark Agreement to Enable Visa Cloud Connect Globally25.11.2025 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Thredd, a leading next-generation global payments processor, today announced that it has signed an agreement to enable Visa Cloud Connect on a global scale. This milestone reflects Thredd’s continued investment in cloud-first infrastructure and reinforces its role as a global technology leader in payments processing. Visa Cloud Connect allows organisations to access VisaNet, Visa’s secure and powerful global payments network, through their own cloud-based infrastructure. Purpose-built for cloud-native clients, Visa Cloud Connect can help deliver increased flexibility, faster time to market, and seamless scalability across borders. Under the agreement, Thredd will connect across three global Visa Cloud Connect endpoints, committing to a full global rollout. Once live, this will eliminate the need for multiple regional integrations, helping our clients gain new geographies and accelerating Thredd’s vision of a unified global processing platform. "Signing this agreement is about future-pr
Allvue Expands European Footprint, Names KPMG Luxembourg as Core Implementation Partner25.11.2025 09:56:00 EET | Press release
Allvue Systems, LLC (“Allvue”), a leading software technology provider for the private capital markets, today announced an expansion of its current presence in EMEA, naming KPMG Luxembourg as its core implementation partner for all client deliverables for Europe. The strategic collaboration is designed to meet the growing demand from global asset managers leveraging Luxembourg as the premier European fund domicile. By aligning Allvue’s world-class, unified technology platform and solutions with KPMG’s renowned local expertise in private assets, deep regional relationships, and plurilingual delivery capabilities, the partnership offers clients a faster, more effective path to technology adoption. “Our mission is to make private markets more transparent, efficient, and connected through our AI-powered platform and a strong ecosystem of delivery partners,” said Steven Kilby, Chief Technology Officer at Allvue Systems. “By expanding our presence in Luxembourg with KPMG, clients can now ado
Datassential Expands Global Menu Intelligence with Debut of Global Launches25.11.2025 09:30:00 EET | Press release
Datassential, the leading global food and beverage intelligence platform, announced the debut of Global Launches, an expanded menu–tracking solution offering a unified view of new menu items and limited-time offers (LTOs) across major international markets. Global Launches now tracks menu innovation across hundreds of restaurant chains in the European, Latin American, and Asia-Pacific markets. Building on the robust menu tracking already available in the U.S. and Canada, this expansion gives foodservice businesses a comprehensive view of new menu items and LTOs around the globe, providing unmatched visibility into how trends and flavors appear across worldwide markets and evolve to fit local tastes. “Innovation doesn’t happen in one market at a time — it’s global, constant, and increasingly fast,” said Jim Emling, CEO of Datassential. “Global Launches now offers our customers a single, trusted source to see what’s launching across the world, how concepts are localized, and where the ne
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom