From 20th to 22nd March, seven tech organisations organised a hackathon under the patronage of the German government. Under the motto #WirvsVirus hackers were looking for software solutions against the corona virus.
The more the coronavirus tears social coexistence apart, the more it releases a feeling of solidarity: the world is moving closer together. Last Saturday and Sunday a total of 42,000 participants gathered in an online hackathon under the motto #WirvsVirus to search for software solutions for the corona crisis.
#WirvsVirus: Hackathon following the Estonian example
Seven social initiatives have launched the campaign:
- Tech4Germany
- Prototype Fund
- Code for Germany
- initiative21
- ImpactHub Berlin
- project together
- SEND
However, the campaign was supported by the German government. According to official figures, the Estonian-style model was very popular. According to these figures, #WirvsVirus had 42,968 participants, 1,924 idea contributors and 2,922 mentors. The idea came up last Monday, the approval of the German government was already there on Wednesday. Afterwards, the number of participants exploded, an overloaded chat program and stunned initiators were the result. In his conclusion, Helge Braun, patron of#WirvsVirus and head of the Federal Chancellery, speaks of the largest hackathon in the world:
I would like to thank all participants and must say: I am very impressed. This was obviously the biggest hackathon ever held worldwide. More than 40,000 participants agreed to contribute ideas from home and abroad and to take action against the virus. Our country and the whole world is in a serious situation. And the fact that so many people have volunteered to help do things that the federal government could never have done alone is really great.
Diggi: The decentralized euro as block-chain based crisis money
Among others, the Blockchain Bundesverband was present. The industry association of the German Blockchain scene developed the floor plan for a token project for the issue of digital vouchers. As a decentralized common euro, the dgE (pronounced: "Diggi") is intended to avert negative consequences of the corona crisis for the economy.
According to the floor plan, branches of the economy particularly affected by the corona crisis are to be supported with consumer vouchers. The Blockchain provides transparency and traceability - so the authenticity of the consumer vouchers can be tracked and verified.
To promote trade and stimulate the economy, the tokens are also to lose their value after a certain period of time. The industries to be promoted include hospitality, tourism, freelancers, the event industry and similar economic sectors affected by the Corona crisis.
Marcus Ewald, political advisor to the German Bloc, emphasizes the great potential of the digital euro:
The dgE saves livelihoods and maintains local structures. Because the decentralised common euro does what the politicians tell it to do. For broad consumption in e-wallets for everyone, but precisely controllable in terms of time and space: smart aid packages that find their way on their own. On top of that, it is efficient in terms of the market economy and pandemic-proof.
The federal bloc is thus designing a more targeted supplement to helicopter money. While the latter is to be distributed to all citizens on a flat-rate basis, the token project running under the working title "Diggi" is intended to provide targeted consumption incentives. This would provide the state with a means of stimulating the economy in a targeted manner and promoting the regional economy. Accordingly, the redemption of consumer vouchers would be limited to the respective postcode of the citizens. Technically, the whole thing is to take place on a public Ethereum Sidechain. The total stock of available tokens will be tracked via a smart contract.
Every citizen with a tax ID would then receive access from the tax office to a wallet on which the consumer vouchers are stored.
#WirvsVirus: What happens next
Now it is a matter of bringing the developed solutions "onto the street", according to the initiators of the hackathon. The initiators are therefore trying to initiate a decentralized solution process and to view the results.
