Building the Future Hackathon 2022

What is Building The Future Hackathon? 

It is an initiative sponsored by Upcoming Energies powered by Galp in partnership with EIT InnoEnergy and Microsoft and built by imatch to display the role of technology in solving global challenges concerning the reduction of carbon emissions. It is an online competition where innovators will compete to create a tech solution. 

How much does it cost? 

Building The Future Hackathon is free for anyone who wants to participate. 

Who can participate in the challenge? 

The Hackathon is open to anyone with a creative or technical profile. People from different fields and with experience in data related fields are more than welcome to participate. Diverse teams usually present more robust solutions. 

I don't know how to use Microsoft Azure, can I develop my project on a different platform? 

No, Microsoft Azure is the only platform in which you can work to be able to claim the prizes. We will offer Azure Credits for each of the final teams, in order to be able to build their solutions. You will also benefit from the help of an Azure Mentor and have access to free learning paths on Microsoft Learn to learn how to work with Microsoft Azure. 

How do I form a team? 

All your team members should register individually as innovators in the hackathon page. You must first create a project and afterwards you can add your team members as project members using their username or registered email. If you don't have a team and would like to be part of a project you can use the Matchmaking feature to find a team. Find out more in the "Resources" section. 

What is the size of each team? 

Your team should have a maximum size of 5 participants to be eligible to participate. 

Is there any mentorship available? 

Yes. There will be mentors available to provide feedback throughout the challenge. You will be assigned a mentor on the mentoring phase and he/she will guide you during that time. On the development phase you will be able to count on the Azure experts.

How do I talk to the mentors? 

In each mentor page you will have a link to the mentor's calendly. Check his availability and book a thirty minute session with him using Microsoft Teams.

Are the other participants apart from my team able to see my project details? 

Not during the competition. The published projects and draft projects are only visible to project members and judges, thus no one is able to copy or clone your project resources to use on their submission. After the competition is finished and the results are revealed, the project details become visible to anyone who visits the platform. 

How can I submit a project? 

After your registration, you'll find a button to “Create a project”. Add a name, a description and who will join you on your team. It will also be on your project page where you will showcase some of the deliverables required throughout the Hackathon. Don't forget to click on "Publish" to have your project visible to the jury and organization. You can do as many changes as you need until the submission deadline. 

What are the deliverables for this challenge? 

Mentoring phase: complete your TAIKAI Project Page and Description creating the following sections: 

• The problem you are aiming to solve. The more detailed and backed by real numbers the better!  
• The value proposition. What is the solution your bring and how is it innovative relating to what exists right now. What specific areas are you improving or changing? Overall, how does your project adds value to the world! 
• The solution. In practical terms, how would your solution and approach work?  
• The technology (technical approach). What are the technologies you are using and how do they work in order to create the solution?  
• The team. Let us know who are the innovators behind the project. Tell us a bit about yourselves, your backgrounds and skills. 

Remember to describe and detail your ideias and project description. This will make it easier for the judges to evaluate it. Use an illustrative and clear approach to showcase your solution and highlight its contribution and added value to the defined challenge and add any other relevant documentation your project may require. 

Development phase: 

• Conclusions and Results 
• Demo video - Your video should include a showcase of your prototype/MVP, explain the team’s thinking process that led to your solution. Make it interesting and creative - this is an opportunity to pass your team spirit and the potential of your solution to the judges. Don't worry, we won't be judging you on your video editing skills, we will care about the content and what is presented (Max. 5m video); 
• Code. Provide a link to your publicly accessible code repository on GitHub  
• Upload any other relevant documentation. 

Is English the official language? 

All the communication for the Hackathon is done in English and the challenge is indeed a global initiative so it is strongly recommended to use English in your project. However, we won't let language barriers stop you in developing a great solution. We will grant exceptions to present your project and pitch it to the jury in Portuguese. However, all exceptions will need to be approved by the organization. Email us at: [email protected]  and we will analyze your situation. 

How are the 10 semifinalists selected? 

The 10 semifinalists are selected by a group of judges selected by the organization. They will evaluate the project submissions based on the criteria defined and select 2 per category (assuming a minimum quality requirement). Each judge scores every criteria from 1 to 10 and the final result is the average of the total criteria:

• Innovation Potential (25%)

In this area the jury will be evaluating both the team’s solution and approach to solving the proposed problem. It's all about innovative and creative problem solving. 

The projects should present new, outside the box, approaches to solve a problem; new processes and ways to collect or present data; automation of processes; and many other smart, cost-effective, creative means to build smarter and more impactful solutions. 

In addition, innovation distinguishes you! The jury will evaluate how the team’s solution differentiates itself from other already existing solutions, how unique they are and why they have a chance to thrive. This includes the innovative use of the Microsoft Azure platform, its different use of features and solutions will also be considered.

• Problem-Solution Fit (25%)

Start with defining a clear problem statement (“why?”) and develop a solution with a clear value proposition (“how”). Value propositions can be delivered in terms of productivity improvement, cost reduction, enhanced safety and more. 

The jury will evaluate this aspect of the proposal if there is a clear problem/need being solved addressed by the team, and how well the solution presented addresses these aspects.

• Solution Alignment with Hackathon Proposed Challenge (25%)

The jury will score each team’s proposal in terms of how they align to one or multiple of the Hackathon proposed challenges. This should help teams to solve the problem in a more narrow problem space, without being a limitation to the creative process that they should use and excel at. The challenges are open and broad enough to include a lot of different possible solutions and areas of interest to ensure diversity and innovation to fill the event. A team can address multiple challenge spaces at one and not only be focussed on one single challenge space if they prefer. The jury will score this alignment at the early submission to ensure an overall alignment before the work starts.

• First Impressions (10%)

In this area the jury will be evaluating how clear the message is. How is the quality of the submitted material - text, images, others?

• Economic Viability (15%)

The jury will be looking at the questions: What are the costs involved? Is it easy to implement from the financial perspective? Can it be profitable?

How are the finalists selected? 

The 5 finalists are selected by a group of judges selected by the organization. They will evaluate the project submissions based on the criteria defined and on a project pitch session on the 30th of March. Each judge scores every criteria from 1 to 10 and the final result is the average of the total criteria:

• Innovation Potential (15%)

In this area the jury will be evaluating both the team’s solution and approach to solving the proposed problem. It's all about innovative and creative problem solving. 

The projects should present new, outside the box, approaches to solve a problem; new processes and ways to collect or present data; automation of processes; and many other smart, cost-effective, creative means to build smarter and more impactful solutions. 

In addition, innovation distinguishes you! The jury will evaluate how the team’s solution differentiates itself from other already existing solutions, how unique they are and why they have a chance to thrive. This includes the innovative use of the Microsoft Azure platform, its different use of features and solutions will also be considered.

• Problem-Solution Fit (20%)

Start with defining a clear problem statement (“why?”) and develop a solution with a clear value proposition (“how”). Value propositions can be delivered in terms of productivity improvement, cost reduction, enhanced safety and more. 

The jury will evaluate this aspect of the proposal if there is a clear problem/need being solved addressed by the team, and how well the solution presented addresses these aspects.

• Progress & Functionality (25%)

The jury will be looking at how the team and the project have evolved during the Hackathon. 

How far the team has gone in implementing its solution, is there a prototype or something tangible? Are the main aspects of the solution implemented part of the first interaction/MVP/PoC? This evaluation will always take into account the duration of the Hackathon and what can be done in that length of time so that teams tackling big and complex projects will be leveled in the same way as teams that have less complex issues to implement.

• Azure Development  (15%)

How is the quality of the solution in terms of the technology used? Was the team able to develop something useful and meaningful?

• Pitch Quality and Impact (15%)

The jury will score each team’s final pitch in terms of their ability to be impactful and adding value during the project presentation.

• Economic Viability (10%)

The jury will be looking at the questions: What are the costs involved? Is it easy to implement from the financial perspective? Can it be profitable?

Who owns the project's intellectual property? 

The team which develops the project is the owner of the project and its IP. We do encourage sharing of code with others in the community or making code open source but it is not required to participate or be eligible for the prizes. 

Are there any prizes in Building The Future Hackathon? 

Yes. The top 3 teams will win a money prize: 3,000€ to the winning team and 1,500€ to 2nd place and 500€ to the 3rd place. Additionally, we have prizes for every finalist. They will be announced soon. Pay attention to the "Prizes" Section. 

How will the prize be paid? 

Winners will be informed by the Organization about their Prize via email, at the latest, 15 days after the challenge, to their accounts communicated upon Registration on the taikai.network. 

When will the winners be announced? 

Building The Future Hackathon winners will be announced on the 15th of June of 2022.  

Still have questions? 

If you have any technical questions about the TAIKAI platform, please reach out to: [email protected] 

If you have any questions about the challenge or its rules or want to get in touch with the organization, please reach out to: [email protected]