Inspired by the #WirVsVirus Hackathon (15,000 participants in Germany) and HackCrisis (Poland), Impact Hub Switzerland, together with several partners,  is bringing Switzerland together to develop fresh ideas and solutions in dealing with and against the coronavirus.

The #VersusVirus initiative started with a Swiss-wide virtual hackathon on April 3-5 under the patronage of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), which used the collective intelligence of researchers, experts, technology specialists and fellow citizens to develop fresh ideas and solutions for dealing with and combating the coronavirus.

During 48h, people from all over Switzerland with a variety of backgrounds collaborated to find solutions for the challenges that we are facing right now or will be facing the future in the following areas: Protection of risk groups, Prevention of proliferation, Data against Fake News, Economic impact, Quarantine & mental health, Hospital & Care, Family & Children, Training, Home & Team Work, After the crisis, Support & Solidarity, Art & Culture, Crime Reduction, etc.

Among the organizers of #VersusVirus are Impact Hub Switzerland, Panter, Powercoders, Opendata.ch, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, digitalswitzerland, Staatslabor, Swisscom, ETH Entrepreneur Club, foraus, and many others.

Watch the highlight video here:

In May 2020, #VersusVirus entered its second phase: With an 6-month Incubation program for COVID19-projects, and with a second follow-up hackathon in late May.