In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Hackster.io leading effort to bring forth low-cost, deployable solutions to detect and protect from virus in developing regions

PHOENIX, US - Media OutReach - 15 April 2020 - Hackster.io, an Avnet community, is joining forces with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and 12 leading technology companies to support the world's developing countries in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Launching today, the COVID-19 Detect and Protect Challenge is calling on engineers to design low-cost and easily deployable software, hardware and services that will support the detection and prevention of COVID-19 in some of the world's most vulnerable areas.

"Through this challenge, our community at Hackster, the UNDP and Avnet's technology partners are coming together to provide innovative solutions to get lifesaving technology to some of the world's most vulnerable areas," said Bill Amelio, CEO, Avnet. "We are proud to partner with the UNDP to activate local technology ecosystems to develop, shape and implement open-source solutions that can help detect and protect against COVID-19 around the world. It's truly a global collaboration, with a longer-term and positive multiplier effect."

The COVID-19 Detect and Protect Challenge aims to realize ten economical and easy-to-produce hardware solutions to strengthen detection and prevention efforts in developing countries, minimizing the strain on healthcare systems by helping to flatten the curve. Projects will be curated by Hackster and the UNDP, which will also work with each creator to deploy their projects to the frontlines where it is needed most.

"We're turning to our network of developers and partners to share their ideas and designs with those who need them the most," said Adam Benzion, co-founder, Hackster.io. "Through this challenge, we hope to bring forward some truly unique solutions that could make a real impact on the global fight against COVID-19."

Avnet will provide support to accelerate the winners' time to market by offering business consultation and access to engineering, design and manufacturing resources. Leveraging the power of Avnet's extensive technology ecosystem, Hackster garnered further support from partners including Amazon Web Services, Arduino, Arm, Edge Impulse, Google, Microsoft, Nordic Semiconductor, Nvidia, NXP, Soracom and The Things Industries, each of whom will provide sponsorship, prizes and hardware and/or design support for a selection of project submissions.

Entries will be accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis through Summer of 2020. The UNDP will select the top ten inventions, whose creators will receive global recognition and monetary awards for their contribution to society and humankind.

Interested creators can go to https://www.covid19detectprotect.org/ to sign up and gather more information.

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Avnet is a global technology solutions provider with an extensive ecosystem delivering design, product, marketing and supply chain expertise for customers at every stage of the product lifecycle. We transform ideas into intelligent solutions, reducing the time, cost and complexities of bringing products to market. For nearly a century, Avnet has helped its customers and suppliers around the world realize the transformative possibilities of technology. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com and its Hackster community at www.Hackster.io (AVT) (CorpNws).

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.www.undp.org