The Raspberry Pi Foundation today announced that it's canceled several events--and taken another online--because of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. But it also said the outbreak hasn't affected the supply of its single-board computers, at least for now, and it's working with its partners to make sure that remains the case.
The foundation said it canceled the upcoming Coolest Projects UK and Coolest Projects International events where Raspberry Pi enthusiasts can show off their work because "there is just too much uncertainty for us to continue to ask young people, parents, mentors, and volunteers to make travel and other arrangements."
The Cambridge Computing Education Research Symposium scheduled for April 1, however, will be conducted online rather than being canceled outright. More information about the symposium can be found on the Raspberry Pi Foundation website; registration for the event remains open via the Eventbrite platform.
In addition to canceling its events, the Raspberry Pi Foundation said it advised "tens of thousands of brilliant human beings" leading community events to "follow the local public health advice in their country or region and take decisions on whether to cancel their club or event in consultation with the venues that host them."
COVID-19 doesn't appear to have affected the Raspberry Pi supply chain, however, with the foundation saying that "Raspberry Pi products are still available in all of the usual places and we’re working very hard to make sure that this continues." Unfortunately it can be hard to predict the pandemic's effect moving forward.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation wasn't the only one canceling events; check out our "Coronavirus Tech Show Cancellations: What’s Gone, What’s Still On" for the latest information on similar decisions from other organizations. Maybe people can use this unexpected free time to start tinkering with their own Raspberry Pi projects.
