Hack the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life and suffering worldwide. Beyond a health crisis, it is a human, economic and social crisis presenting an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work.

Globally there have been over 590 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including over 6 million deaths, reported to WHO. Yet some estimates place the pandemic’s true death toll closer to 17 million.

Tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up to 132 million by the end of the year. And millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods.

With few exceptions every nation and its citizens has been impacted by the pandemic. Vulnerable groups such as healthcare workers, informal caregivers, the elderly, indigenous persons, people living with disabilities, people living in poverty are at particular risk.

Australia’s ability to navigate this fast-changing environment and to recover from it needs inputs from a range of researchers and other experts. All fields of expertise including science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health, humanities, arts, and social science are needed.

Hack the Pandemic is a 2.5-day event which will bring together big vision individuals to create innovative and sustainable solutions to contribute to the national and global effort to tackle and recover from COVID-19 and its scientific, health, social, cultural, and economic implications.