WiTH Africa Hackathon

Eligibility

This hackathon is open to anyone, with a special focus on students from universities in South Africa. Participants must form teams of 3-4 members.

Duration

The hackathon lasts four days, and all hacking must be completed during the hackathon time. You can brainstorm your idea and create your team before the hackathon, but you cannot code or work on the product design (UI / UX) before or after the hackathon. 

Submission

Teams must submit their project on TAIKAI by Sunday, September 26th at 11:59 PM WAT.

Steps to Submit on TAIKAI:

1. Click “Create Project” on the WiTH Africa hackathon page.
2. Add your team members.
3. Upload your work using the submission template below.
4. Project Name
5. Name and contact (Whatsapp/email) of Team Members
6. Description - short business canvas (1–2 pages)
7. Link to GitHub Code Repository containing the datasets and dashboards, and created under the license type 'CC BY 4.0'. 
8. Click “Publish” once everything is complete.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Relevance and Integration with the WiTH Africa Platform (25%) 

2. Impact for African tourism (20%)

3. Technical innovation & feasibility (25%)

4. User experience & accessibility 10% Clarity of presentation (10%)

Format 

The hackathon will be conducted entirely online through the TAIKAI Platform. The kickoff session will take place on October 23rd, and final deliverables must be submitted by October 26th, 23:59 WAT.

Mentorship & Guidance 

Mentors will be available for consultations between 10am-12PM (noon) GMT+1 on October 23rd and 24th. Communication with mentors will take place via Whatsapp.  

Fair Competition 

Collaboration within teams is encouraged, but plagiarism or copying of other teams’ work is prohibited. Submissions must be original and created during the hackathon period.  

Copyright Notice

All projects developed during the WiTH Africa Hackathon must be submitted on GitHub under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. This allows WiTH Africa to freely share, adapt, and integrate selected features into its platform for scientific and non-commercial purposes only. Integrated solutions will always be credited to the original teams on the WiTH Africa website and related communications.

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Ethics & Data Usage 

Only public datasets, open-access sources, or materials provided/approved by organizers may be used. Respect copyright laws and data protection guidelines at all times. Any use of personal or sensitive data must be anonymized.  

Team Coordination 

Teams are responsible for managing their own workflow, communication, and submissions. Each team must designate representatives to submit final deliverables.  

Conduct 

Participants are expected to maintain professionalism, respect mentors, judges, and peers, and uphold the spirit of collaboration. Any form of misconduct, including disrespect, harassment, or dishonesty, will lead to disqualification.