EUvsVirus Hackathon Recap
At the moment, the entire world is trying to flatten the curve of COVID-19 virus expansion. As individuals, we can do much by staying at home and protecting ourselves from contracting it, but what contributions towards this global fight can we make when we join forces with other organisations?
As a socially responsible company, some time ago, we donated funds to purchase the necessary medical equipment in Serbia. We want to say a big thanks to all of our colleagues who decided to join this initiative!
We knew that we could do even more, and that’s why we were thrilled to become the first company from Serbia that participated in the EUvsVirus hackathon organised by the European Commission.
EUvsVirus hackaton
The deadline for submitting our application and the project idea was short, but we managed to gather a great team of developers and embark on this rewarding journey. Check out what we have accomplished. :-)
Our Solution for the Hackathon: Contact Notifier
The idea for our solution was inspired by the partnership between Apple and Google, who work on providing the API for contact tracing that would help during this pandemic.
Our solution contained a mobile app for Android and iOS that would use the API developed by Apple and Google, and a Diagnosis Server that holds Diagnosis Keys.
Through the mobile app (with user consent because it respects the user’s privacy), the user will be notified if they were in contact with a person who was later-on diagnosed with COVID-19. The user can also see if they need to be tested and receive the necessary information on where and how to undergo these tests.
These Diagnosis Keys help devices calculate if they have been in contact with an infected person, while at the same time, the Diagnosis Keys do not hold any user information, such as personal information or location.
The entire project is open source and is available on GitHub. Our goal is to help other people use this source code to expand and create apps that will help the medical system. Feel free to use it and customise it to your specific needs.
Mobile app's GitHub page: https://github.com/vegaitsourcing/contact-tracing-mobile
Diagnosis Server's GitHub page: https://github.com/vegaitsourcing/contact-tracing-backend
The Team Who Worked on This Project
We would like to thank our colleagues Vuk Raković, Anica Šutic, Nikola Smiljanić, Stevan Kapičić, Vladislav Milivojević, Milan Kosanović and Boban Mikšin for doing such an amazing job on this project!
Over the weekend, our team wrote a prototype for a contact tracing app and a Diagnosis Server.
The team lead on this project Milan Kosanović said:
The experience was great. The biggest challenge was to develop an application that will use API that currently exists only as a specification that is constantly changing. Also, the fact that this was a completely new situation for us was another challenge we had to overcome. It was really hard to find a way how API will be used to help people without giving them access to the data.
Technologies used: React Native, .Net Core and Microsoft SQL Server.
Conclusion
Even though we have been organising a CSR campaign Code for a Cause for three years in a row, we were excited to be given the opportunity to participate in this European hackathon with more than 20.000 like-minded enthusiasts.
Taking part in the EUvsVirus hackathon was a great experience for the entire team, who gave their best to complete the goal in 48h.
We are willing to participating in similar projects, so feel free to reach out to us. ;-)
