---
id: "coronavirus-smarter-crowdsourcing:strategies/Governments-should-capitalize-on-local-knowledge-a"
type: "GovLab policy strategy"
title: "Governments should capitalize on local knowledge and talent through hackathons and other contests that bring…"
url: "https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/governments-should-capitalize-on-local-knowledge-a"
summary: "Governments should capitalize on local knowledge and talent through hackathons and other contests that bring together problem solvers from civil society to create innovative solutions to specific challenges."
source: "The GovLab (coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Governments should capitalize on local knowledge and talent through hackathons and other contests that bring…

Governments should capitalize on local knowledge and talent through hackathons and other contests that bring together problem solvers from civil society to create innovative solutions to specific challenges.

- Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate)
- Audience: Civil Society, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits
- Type: Technology/Innovation, Communications
- Recommendation: [Data and innovation](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations/data-and-innovation)
- Part of: [Smarter Crowdsourcing in the Age of Coronavirus](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/)

## Actions governments should take

1. Create an online challenge where teams can submit innovative solutions or ideas to solve specific problems. Offer financial, reputational, or institutional support as incentives.
2. Ensure problems that need to be solved are well defined and have a clear, articulated goal for participants to achieve
3. [Host the challenge or hackathon on an open and accessible forum, such as Your Priorities.](https://yrpri.org/domain/3)
4. If offering a prize, ensure that the prize is commensurate with the intended goal/outcome. Make sure it is culturally or otherwise appropriate for the participants of the challenge.
5. [Recruit a diverse representation of participants through targeted advertising, recruitment, and outreach.](https://yrpri.org/domain/3)

## Examples from around the world

1. [The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hosted a series of challenges to empower the public to take action on the COVID-19 crisis. This “MIT COVID-19 Challenge.” MIT has run these challenges for specific audiences and specific groups of innovators, including for Latin American, African and Indian contexts.](https://covid19challenge.mit.edu/)