Current projections anticipate immense loss of lives and livelihoods over the next year as we await development, testing and availability of effective vaccines. During this time there are myriad innovations and actions that can serve to mitigate these losses.

Over nearly a decade, the Canadian Academy for the Knowledge Economy (CAKE), has - through the Sensorica Network - advanced the capacity of individuals, working together as peers, to achieve significant, meaningful impact for their communities. Identifying itself as an early and active agent of the 4th sector, Sensorica and CAKE have built bridges with Public, Private and Non-profit sectors, to establish productive collaborations that can now accelerate innovation in areas crucial to a COVID-19 response.

The 4th sector embodies immense capacity for collaborative and creative response, and it offers an alternative economic participation for those displaced from work. The urgency of the situation demands rapid coordination and activation of today’s internet and ICT empowered 4th sector.

Handled with care by CAKE

Papers

• Stitching Together a Solution: Lessons from the Open Source Hardware Response to COVID-19

• When thousands of citizens innovate: how policy-makers can contribute