IBM has announced details of the 2025 Call for Code programme, inviting developers to create AI-driven solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Call for Code, which is organised by the David Clark Cause, and with support from the United Nations Human Rights and the Linux Foundation, is now in its eighth year, and will examine how ‘AI can address humanitarian issues to make a real difference for communities around the world’.
Addressing the SDGs
The 2025 Call for Code Global Challenge will consist of five qualifying hackathons, each aligned with a different SDG. Participants will be required to use IBM technologies such as watsonx and IBM Cloud services to build proof-of-concept solutions in each case.
Among the SDGs in focus are SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation, with a hackathon planned for 20-31 March calling on participants to build a proof-of-concept for an AI virtual agent to address the challenges associated with that goal.
Elsewhere, a separate hackathon will tackle SDG 13: Climate Action as part of the 2025 Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, hosted by UN Human Rights and the University of Oxford, and supported by various universities around the world.
‘Innovate for social good’
“Call for Code is a unique global tech initiative, that inspires and empowers developers and problem-solvers from around the world to use their talent to innovate for social good,” commented David Clark, Founder and CEO of Call for Code. “I am immensely proud that Call for Code […] has helped ensure that technology serves as a catalyst for sustainability, climate and humanitarian action.”
Teams, comprised of one to five developers, can compete for prizes awarded in each hackathon, with with winning Call for Code solution from each qualifying hackathon receiving a prize of $5,000 and one conference pass per team member to the IBM TechXchange Conference 2025 in Orlando.
“From the very beginning, UN Human Rights has been honoured to support Call for Code, recognising that technology—when grounded in human rights—can be a powerful force for good,” added Ansar Mahfoudh, head of the Innovation and Analytics Hub at UN Human Rights.
“Since helping launch this groundbreaking initiative almost a decade ago, we have supported those projects that champion innovation that serves humanity. We remain committed to ensuring Call for Code grows from strength to strength, by drawing on a community of socially-minded coders who place humans at the centre of tech and innovation solutions.” Read more here.
