Politicians, policy makers and public servants have never faced a situation like this. They immediately need policies that really work. Best practices can serve as an inspiration, a starting point and a proof of concept.

Public volunteer programme to support a country’s health structures
To meet the growing demands within a country’s health system, a volunteer programme for doctors, nurses, paramedics, psychologists, and students and retirees with a health or nursing background was set up.

Hackathon for tackling current challenges
To tackle current challenges the Estonian government decided to ask young programmers for their support and organized a hackathon. When tackling new challenges in a crisis, innovative ideas are quickly needed. Especially dealing with Covid-19

Allocation of free university resources for Covid-19 testing
A platform helps to allocate free university resources to laboratories for corona testing.

A remote system that allows politicians to discuss and vote on matters from a distance
The Brazilian House of Representatives and the Senate agreed to implement the Remote Deliberation System (SDR) to ensure a working congress during lockdown.

Free online workshop on how to design digital services during Covid-19
Apolitical is offering a workshop teaching civil servants and policy a method that solves problems through designing, prototyping, and testing ideas with users.

A government’s hackathon to tackle challenges in developing countries
With the #SmartDevelopmentHack, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development aims to support the development of digital solutions to overcome Covid-19-related challenges in developing countries. The best solutions receive funding to increase their impact in the long term.
Deferring businesses’ taxes and utility bills
To help businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic and giving them more flexibility, the city of Seattle is deferring businesses’ taxes and utility bills.
A government’s initiative equips people with innovative solutions and services
To improve peoples’ lives during lockdown and quarantine, the Italian Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digitalisation launched an initiative offering citizens innovative solutions and services.

A government initiative supports organisations and individuals
#GdańskPomaga connects those who need support with those people who offer their support through an easy online form. This initiative is a joint effort by the city of Gdansk and its partners.

Using drones to inform people about Covid-19
In Tallinn the local government uses state-of-the-art technology to inform people about how to behave during the coronavirus crisis.

Using crowdfunding to provide a face mask for every citizen
The municipality of Viterbo collects donations to empower companies to reconvert their production lines to the production of face masks.

Municipality broadcasts videos for children
Besiktas municipality provides children with colourful educational videos through its YouTube Channel to make social isolation more bearable.