When the RESPOND Open call was launched in May 2019, SmartAgriHubs wanted to contribute to the global efforts to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 by further supporting digital innovation. RESPOND was our first open call and came at a very special moment. This Open Call focused on the organisation and realisation of hackathon type of activities and the proposal of immediate technological solutions, that will RESPOND to the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and use potential opportunities to fight against the pandemic.

The persistence of the pandemic makes it increasingly necessary to find new solutions for the agricultural, agri-food and agri-tech sectors. 

In this publication, you will be able to learn more about the creative solutions developed during our hackathons and datathons. Due to the current restrictions, the events had to take place online. Despite this unusual setting, participants across Europe were able to showcase creativity and resilience, proposing original solutions. By reading the reports of these activities, you might notice some common topics such as supply chain management, reducing food waste, direct sales for producers or solutions to help restaurants to transform their offer. For some of the teams that took part in these hackathons, the event was only the first step towards blooming into start-ups and scale-ups. 

The SmartAgriHubs RESPOND Open Call closed in June 2020, and we are now looking forward to supporting Innovation Experiments under our PREPARE, RESTART and EXPAND Open Calls. We hope you will draw as much inspiration as we do from these innovative hackathons, and maybe, join our ecosystem.  

Enjoy your reading!  

The SmartAgriHubs team