2020 has been a tough year so far, to say the least, and with this outbreak upon us it seems that the worst is not yet behind us. As a company, we firmly believe that in times of crisis, such as this, we have a shared responsibility and should all do our part to overcome the threats before us. Since COVID-19 became an international pandemic, we’ve taken every precaution to make sure we don’t contribute to its spread and have been dedicating efforts to support our communities in any way we can. With this message, we aim to share how our organization has responded to the situation and hopefully influence our affiliates to participate as well.
First of all, we’d like to assure all of our customers and partners that despite the current state of the economy, it’s business as usual on our end, as we have processes in place that vastly support remote work. We are fully operational and have no reason to believe that there will be any changes in the months to come. Of course, we hope that the situation will come to a resolution sooner rather than later, but we are prepared for worse scenarios as well.
For the past two weeks we have been working 100% remotely and are happy to say that we have not seen any negative effects on operations or our quality of service so far. This will continue until stated otherwise by the governments in our respective office locations. Although this is unprecedented, as a digital business we have been preparing for similar situations and firmly believe that it will not present too great of a challenge for us, however long the period of isolation might be.
While the coronavirus’ impact on global business is definitely a concern, we should remember that this is first and foremost about public health, so securing that should be our top priority. To support that effort, we’ve recently donated a new ventilator to one of our local hospitals, which should be delivered shortly. We’re also teaming up with 4 other companies to prepare emergency packages with essential safety gear and equipment for medical staff in need. These will be donated to 2000 physicians and will consist of gloves, masks, disinfectants, immunostimulants and 400 infrared thermometers.
Last but not least, we sponsored a nation-wide hackathon where we financed 1/3 of the prize pool and were also involved as part of the jury and mentorship teams. The initiative aims to give a platform for innovators with great ideas on how to help overcome the crisis and see those projects turned into reality. Over 1000 people took part in the event, split into 111 teams, and we’re glad to announce that the finalists have already been drafted. The winning teams will be starting to work on their respective projects as soon as possible.
In summary, despite the difficult situation we’re optimistic for the future and are looking forward to seeing more businesses, as well as individuals, join the efforts to support our respective communities. In the meantime, we hope you’re all well, healthy and staying safe!