Small AI for Development Hackathon Challenge

Organization: World Bank Group

Type: Competition

Location: Global

Deadline: September 26, 2026

Funding: Partially Funded

The World Bank Group's Digital and AI Vice Presidency is running a weekend competition for young innovators building AI that works where connectivity is thin and the hardware is a basic phone rather than a data centre. It runs on October 3 and 4, 2026 with Hack-Nation managing the platform, and three winning entries, one each in agriculture, health and tourism, are flown to Seoul to present at the Global AI and Digital Summit. **What you get:** - A place in a two day competition managed by Hack-Nation, free to enter - World Bank sector briefs mapping the existing digital tools and the preconditions each challenge depends on - Three winning entries, one each in Agriculture, Health and Tourism, get a trip to Seoul with travel, accommodation and designated event related expenses covered in full - A High Impact Talk during a sectoral breakout session at the Global AI and Digital Summit on October 21, 2026 - Possible facilitated meetings with investors, private sector representatives, MSMEs and government officials at the Summit - A letter of support and visa guidance for winners **What you'll do:** - Register through the Hack-Nation platform, on your own or in a team of up to four people - Pick one sector challenge in health, agriculture or tourism - Spend the weekend of October 3 and 4, 2026 building a working small AI solution that runs in a constrained environment, on basic phones, sensors or microcontrollers, with limited connectivity - Submit the entry through the competition portal during the official window, including the referral code WBGSmallAIGADS - Answer the question the organisers put to every applicant: what does localizing AI development mean for you **Key dates:** - Applications close September 26, 2026 - Competition weekend October 3 and 4, 2026 - Winners notified and prepared October 5 to 6, 2026 - Winners travel to Seoul by October 18, 2026 - Winners present at the Global AI and Digital Summit on October 21, 2026 **More information:** - Full terms, eligibility and key dates sit on the Small AI Hackathon Challenge tab of the World Bank's Summit event page - Registration and submission are handled on the Hack-Nation platform, which runs its own earlier rolling batch cut-offs, so applying well before September 26 is safer - Winners are responsible for their own visa application and any associated fees; the World Bank provides a letter of support but covers no visa cost

World Bank GroupCompetition

Small AI for Development Hackathon Challenge

This one has closed

Archived

Opportunity type

Competition

Funding

Partially Funded

Location

Global

Deadline

Archived

About this opportunity

What you get:

A place in a two day competition managed by Hack-Nation, free to enter
World Bank sector briefs mapping the existing digital tools and the preconditions each challenge depends on
Three winning entries, one each in Agriculture, Health and Tourism, get a trip to Seoul with travel, accommodation and designated event related expenses covered in full
A High Impact Talk during a sectoral breakout session at the Global AI and Digital Summit on October 21, 2026
Possible facilitated meetings with investors, private sector representatives, MSMEs and government officials at the Summit
A letter of support and visa guidance for winners

What you'll do:

Register through the Hack-Nation platform, on your own or in a team of up to four people
Pick one sector challenge in health, agriculture or tourism
Spend the weekend of October 3 and 4, 2026 building a working small AI solution that runs in a constrained environment, on basic phones, sensors or microcontrollers, with limited connectivity
Submit the entry through the competition portal during the official window, including the referral code WBGSmallAIGADS
Answer the question the organisers put to every applicant: what does localizing AI development mean for you

Key dates:

Applications close September 26, 2026
Competition weekend October 3 and 4, 2026
Winners notified and prepared October 5 to 6, 2026
Winners travel to Seoul by October 18, 2026
Winners present at the Global AI and Digital Summit on October 21, 2026

More information:

Full terms, eligibility and key dates sit on the Small AI Hackathon Challenge tab of the World Bank's Summit event page
Registration and submission are handled on the Hack-Nation platform, which runs its own earlier rolling batch cut-offs, so applying well before September 26 is safer
Winners are responsible for their own visa application and any associated fees; the World Bank provides a letter of support but covers no visa cost

Who can apply

Aged 18 to 35 at the time of application
Open across World Bank member countries, with applicants from emerging economies strongly encouraged
Apply as an individual or as a team of up to four members, with every member registering individually before the registration deadline
Applications and competition entries must be submitted in English
One competition entry per person, and team membership cannot change once the hackathon begins
Active World Bank Group staff, consultants and interns are not eligible
Entries only count if submitted through the official Hack-Nation platform with the referral code WBGSmallAIGADS
Young innovators, developers, researchers and student builders aged 18 to 35 in any World Bank member country, with applicants from emerging economies strongly encouraged, who want to build AI for people on basic phones and patchy connectivity rather than for a data centre.

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Good to know

+Free to enter, and you can apply on your own or with a team of up to four.
+Open to anyone aged 18 to 35 across World Bank member countries, and they say applicants from emerging economies are especially encouraged.
+Three winners, one each in agriculture, health and tourism, get flown to Seoul with travel and accommodation paid, to present at the Global AI and Digital Summit.
+It is one weekend of building, on 3 and 4 October, so you are not committing months before you know whether it works out.
+No degree, no prior funding and no track record required. The brief is to build AI that works on basic phones and patchy connectivity.

Worth checking yourself

!Only three entries win the Seoul trip. Everyone else gets the weekend and the experience, which is normal for a hackathon but worth knowing before you count on the prize.
!Winners pay for their own visa, including the application fee. Travel and accommodation are covered, the visa is not.
!Registration runs through a third party platform that sets its own earlier cut-off dates, so apply well before 26 September rather than on the last day.
!You need a Google account to reach the application form.

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