AI for the Environment Hackathon Festival
A challenge event to help protect our environment. 11-20 August 2023.
A challenge event to help protect our environment. 11-20 August 2023.
Join us in solving pressing environmental problems using AI.
AI Forum NZ is hosting an AI for the Environment Hackathon Festival across Aotearoa and the South Pacific.
Do you have a passion for saving the planet, starting in our backyard?
The winners will pitch their solutions at the AI Summit on 21 September in Auckland.
This event is being held across multiple locations including Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Christchurch, Taranaki and Fiji.
11-12 August (academyEX and She#)
14-15 August (Amazon Web Servies)
15-16 August (Callaghan Innovation)
15-16 August (NZME and Google)
15-16 August (PowerCo)
18-19 August (ANZ Bank)
19-20 August (UOW)
11-20 August (Online)
Each hackathon within the Festival is a two-day challenge event focused on delivering real-life examples.
Our problems to solve are based on the 5 Key Environmental Outcomes (AI for the Environment Report 2022). We have expanded these to make them relevant to all participants in 2023.
You are welcome to bring your own problems to solve. If you do, we recommend letting us know so that we can do our best to help with data sets and technology support.
However, in case you are looking for ideas, we have found these ones for you – and some of the organisations involved will provide subject matter experts to help on the day.
Mark your calendars with the key dates below:
28 June 2023 - Register for one of the Hackathon events located around the country. If you are an experienced hacker you can join the event online.
12 July 2023, 5pm - 6pm - a pre-recorded session for participants, which outlines the Hackathon, the problems to solve, planned venue and logistics, datasets and technology.
24 July, 2023 5pm - 6pm - for participants to clarify questions about the hackathon - from rules of engagement and ideas to datasets and technology. (We are running two of these sessions - come along to one or both to have all of your questions answered).
7 August 2023, 5pm - 6pm - for participants to clarify questions about the hackathon - from rules of engagement and ideas to datasets and technology. (We are running two of these sessions - come along to one or both to have all of your questions answered).
11-19 August - each site runs their own hackathon over 48 hours to the same general time frame and within the rules set out. All pitches are recorded and each event selects an overall winner. Each winning pitch is then submitted to the international judging panel.
22 August 2023 - our judging panel will assess the recorded presentations from all of the regional event finalists and winners to select the four teams who will go on to present at the Aotearoa AI Summit in September 2023. (This is an online event for judges only).
An international judging panel will select the four best solutions who will then have the opportunity to pitch to the AI Summit 2023 in Auckland on 21 September. The audience at the Summit will vote for the overall winner of the Hackathon Festival
Secure your spot today and join us in solving pressing environmental problems.
Our panel of expert judges will select four finalists who will present at the Aotearoa AI Summit 2023 in September.
Senior Hazard and Disaster Risk Advisor. Senior Researcher at The AI Institute NZ
Learn more about Phil >
Our regional judges will select an overall winner from their event. Regional winners are submitted to the international judging panel who choose four finalists to present at the Aotearoa AI Summit in September.
The regional judges for the Auckland hackathon event on 11-12 August supported by academyEX and She Sharp are:
The regional judges for the Wellington hackathon event on 14-15 August supported by AWS are:
The regional judges for the Christchurch hackathon event on 15-16 August supported by Callaghan Innovation are:
The regional judge for the Auckland hackathon event on 15-16 August supported by NZME and Google is:
The regional judge for Taranaki hackathon event on 15-16 August supported by PowerCo is :
The regional judges for the Waikato hackathon event on 19-20 August supported by University of Waikato are:
Winning team of each region: $250
Overall Hackathon Winning team: The TAIAO Prize of $1,000. Plus each team member receives an ArcGIS for Personal Use license which provides access to ArcGIS for 12 months for personal, non-commercial projects.
Prizes kindly donated by Eagle Technology.
➤ The University of Waikato is celebrating 50 Years of Computing https://computing50.waikato.ac.nz/.
For this special occasion, they have a fantastic prize up for grabs for a Year 12 or 13 high school student participating in the hackathon to receive a $5,000 scholarship to enrol in a computer science degree at The University of Waikato!
If you do, we recommend letting us know so that we can do our best to help with data sets and technology support.
Our problems to solve are based on the 5 Key Environmental Outcomes. We have expanded these to make them more relevant to all
participants in 2023. Our problems to solve are based on the 5 Key Environmental Outcomes (AI for the Environment Report 2022).
Help us spread the word about the AI for the Environment Hackathon 2023! Download social media assets, images, and copy to use across your marcomms channels i.e. social media and newsletters. If you would like something specific, please email us at info@aiforum.org.nz.
If you missed the bootcamp held on 12 July, 2023, or would like to revisit specific chapters and information, you can download or view the videos or explore individual chapters below:
The mentor information pack is now available for download.
This provides helpful information for mentors attending a hackathon event.
Please check the website for the latest updates regarding dates, locations and sponsors as some details in these videos and documents may have changed. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at info@aiforum.org.nz.
Here’s some highlights from this year’s AI for the Environment Hackathon Festival, which took place in six locations on 11-20 August.
The winning team of each region received $250, kindly donated by Eagle Technology.
Auckland (academyEX and She Sharp):
Ocean/MCM (Huijun Jin, Charles Yu, Taimor Hazou, Sarah Mwashomah and Yijun Jin) and Floodcheck.ai (Bin Zhang, Danielle Pont, Jing Qi and Monika Tylova) – joint winners.
Wellington (Amazon Web Services):
Deepweed (Jack Drummond, Liam Crowley, Roydon Goldsack, Tom Walker, Kate Mcalpine).
Christchurch (Callaghan Innovation):
Tree Trackers (Stephanie Langer, Joanna Sharp, Blake List, Stephen Bell, Daniel Bentall and Bryn Gibson).
Auckland (NZME and Google):
Trap Feng Shui (Frank Wu, Kui Wang, Marsha Ma-Fairbrother and Richard Wright).
Fiji (ANZ Bank):
Primordial (Rahul Chand, Emenual John, Priyam Narayan, Alvin Singh and Nandita Nishika).
Waikato (The University of Waikato):
Illegal Dumping (Rawinder Singh, Thin Nadi, Dion Pinto, Chengfang Liu, Zhanchao Shao and Vinay Nelli).
CoastCaster (Zhanchao Shao, Vinay Nelli)
DeepWeed (Wellington) | Team Illegal Dumping (Waikato) | Tree Trackers (Christchurch) | Trap Feng Shui (Auckland)
Find answers to frequently asked questions below.
The only differences are the dates and locations. Both events are being held at quality venues with excellent support available and will be run to the Hackathon Festival’s rules.
The winners from both events will compete for the national award.
The first Hackathon in Auckland is on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th August and is being hosted by AcademyEx at their Khyber Pass Road campus. Mentors from She Sharp will be supporting this event alongside others.
The second Hackathon in Auckland is on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th August and is being hosted by NZME at their iHeart Studios in Graham St in the CBD. This event is being supported by Google and others.
Register as a normal participant but add to the notes that you will be participating online, or register as an online participant but add to the notes that you will be participating as part of a pre-formed team.
You and your team can self-organise how you participate (e.g. via Slack / Teams / Zoom). You and your team must make sure that the organising team at the venue and the judges are aware you are contributing to the team’s work remotely.
Solo online participants not registering as part of a pre-formed team will be assigned to a Hackathon venue. You will need to adhere to their dates and timings.
At the start of Day 1 of their Hackathon event you can join a team on the ground and participate with them throughout the event. You will need to self-organise online calls / interaction with your team.
You can organise to join your team’s pitch via a Zoom call.
Once we receive your registration, you will be assigned to a Hackathon venue that is running a hybrid event. You will need to adhere to their dates and timings, and a mentor will be assigned to your team to check on your progress throughout the hack.
You will pitch to that Hackathon’s judging panel and be considered alongside those participating in person at that venue.
There is no restriction on the technology used by teams.
The evaluation criteria is available as part of the participant’s pack available here. Please note that this is not an academic exercise and hence detailed evaluation criteria will not be available.
Teams can either choose one of the provided problems to solve or choose their own.
Each problem to solve must fit into one or more of the 5 key environmental problem areas outlined in the Problems to Solve pack here.
If you are unsure about whether your problem to solve fits within the criteria please contact us with details by emailing us at info@aiforum.org.nz or check with the team organising your event on the day.
Please refer to the Bootcamp videos and other datasets information on the website here.
There are a variety of different datasets in different formats. Please refer to the Bootcamp videos and additional dataset information on the website here.
Please let us know what you need by emailing info@aiforumnz.org.nz.
Copyright © 2023 AI Hackathon. Presented by AI Forum NZ.