2023 Call for Code Hackathon: AGNO, Phyto, and Synergy Squad Emerge as Winners

The Call for Code Global Challenge, now in its sixth year, was launched in February 2023 with a focus on developing AI-powered technology projects that address sustainability and climate change. This year’s challenge, organized by the Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, Founding Partner IBM, Charitable Partner United Nations Human Rights, and Program Affiliate the Linux Foundation, marked a significant shift in format from a single annual competition to quarterly "Challenge Rounds" throughout the year​​.

The 2023 Call for Code hackathon winners, announced on December 6 by the organizing bodies, were AGNO from Hexaware Technologies, Phyto from the University of Sydney, and Synergy Squad from Persistent. These teams stood out for their innovative AI solutions in the fields of small farm crop management, soil rehabilitation, and waste reduction, respectively​​​​.

AGNO, a team from Hexaware Technologies, won the developer category with their Farmistar AI platform. This tool, built with IBM’s watsonx.ai and IBM watsonx Assistant, is designed to assist small farmers with AI-driven crop management strategies and up-to-date weather forecasts​​.

The university category winner was Phyto, a group of students from the University of Sydney. They used IBM Watson Studio and the IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite to develop an AI-powered geospatial and weather analytics tool. This tool aims to help farmers naturally rehabilitate contaminated soil​​.

Synergy Squad from Persistent emerged as the winner in the independent software vendor/startup category. Their creation, Offshelf, is a text-to-speech-enabled platform powered by IBM Watson Speech to Text. Offshelf is designed to reduce household food waste by notifying users before a product’s expiration date​​.

The Call for Code initiative, since its inception, has been a crucial platform for developers and problem solvers globally, inspiring them to create solutions that address core planetary issues such as sustainable farming practices, water quality, and clean energy. This year's winning projects highlight how new technologies, like IBM watsonx, can be leveraged to create impactful solutions that contribute to sustainable development and climate change mitigation​​.