In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Hackster.io leading effort to bring forth low-cost, deployable solutions to detect and protect from virus in developing regions

PHOENIX, US - Media OutReach - 15 April 2020 - Hackster.io,
an Avnet community, is joining forces with the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and 12 leading technology companies to support the world's
developing countries in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Launching today,
the COVID-19 Detect and Protect Challenge is calling on engineers to design
low-cost and easily deployable software, hardware and services that will
support the detection and prevention of COVID-19 in some of the world's most
vulnerable areas.

"Through this challenge, our
community at Hackster, the UNDP and Avnet's technology partners are coming
together to provide innovative solutions to get lifesaving technology to some
of the world's most vulnerable areas," said Bill Amelio, CEO, Avnet. "We are
proud to partner with the UNDP to activate local technology ecosystems to
develop, shape and implement open-source solutions that can help detect and
protect against COVID-19 around the world. It's truly a global collaboration,
with a longer-term and positive multiplier effect."

The COVID-19 Detect and Protect
Challenge aims to realize ten economical and easy-to-produce hardware solutions
to strengthen detection and prevention efforts in developing countries,
minimizing the strain on healthcare systems by helping to flatten the curve.
Projects will be curated by Hackster and the UNDP, which will also work with
each creator to deploy their projects to the frontlines where it is needed
most.

"We're turning to our network of
developers and partners to share their ideas and designs with those who need
them the most," said Adam Benzion, co-founder, Hackster.io. "Through this
challenge, we hope to bring forward some truly unique solutions that could make
a real impact on the global fight against COVID-19."

Avnet will provide support to
accelerate the winners' time to market by offering business consultation and
access to engineering, design and manufacturing resources. Leveraging the power
of Avnet's extensive technology ecosystem, Hackster garnered further support
from partners including Amazon Web Services, Arduino, Arm, Edge Impulse,
Google, Microsoft, Nordic Semiconductor, Nvidia, NXP, Soracom and The Things
Industries, each of whom will provide sponsorship, prizes and hardware and/or
design support for a selection of project submissions.

Entries will be accepted and
evaluated on a rolling basis through Summer of 2020. The UNDP will select the
top ten inventions, whose creators will receive global recognition and monetary
awards for their contribution to society and humankind.

Interested creators can go to https://www.covid19detectprotect.org/
to sign up and gather more information.

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About Avnet

Avnet is a global technology solutions provider with an extensive
ecosystem delivering design, product, marketing and supply chain expertise for
customers at every stage of the product lifecycle. We transform ideas into
intelligent solutions, reducing the time, cost and complexities of bringing
products to market. For nearly a century, Avnet has helped its customers and
suppliers around the world realize the transformative possibilities of
technology. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com and its
Hackster community at www.Hackster.io
(AVT) (CorpNws).

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build
nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth
that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170
countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to
help empower lives and build resilient nations.www.undp.org