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Fighting Coronavirus Together: StartHub Africa Kicks-off the 'Smarter Than Corona' Initiative to Combat COVID-19

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KIU, Main Campus – The negative impacts of COVID-19 on society are well documented. In the midst of the disruption caused by the novel virus, a quiet roar calls to action those who are able and ready to meet this challenging time with solutions. In response to this call, a couple of social entrepreneurship companies including StartHub Africa, Zetu Africa, and the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) have pulled their resources together and initiated an online challenge dubbed "Smarter than Corona." The purpose of the online challenge is to find solutions to problems that arise from the Coronavirus pandemic in Uganda. According to Laura Althaus, the co-founder of StartHub Africa, the group was inspired by hackathons (any event of any duration where people come together to solve problems) all over the world. "It's a problem solving sprint. We saw that all over the world, people started to form groups and came up with solutions. I believe that there are many creative Ugandans that now have time and great minds, and could come up with amazing solutions towards this pandemic," she said. Additionally, Laura said it was time that people made a difference with their own brain capacities and also worked together. "We should expect great energies and greater solutions to COVID-19 challenges,” she said. “People can sign-up online and they are grouped in teams and from 7th to 9th April, they will work on specific challenges, and then on 10th, they can submit their challenges for a public voting where the public decides which challenge is the best. The idea then receives further support and documentation." The KIU community is encouraged to engage in this timely initiative.