Welcome to Hack The City 2026!

Your application has been accepted. Welcome to Hack The City!

Hack The City is a 48-hour, in-person innovation challenge where multidisciplinary teams use data and technology to develop practical solutions to real-world urban mobility challenges.

Registration and Teams

Every accepted participant must register individually through this private Devpost page.

Hack The City is a team-based competition. Teams must have between 3 and 5 members.

If you applied individually or do not yet have a complete team, don’t worry. You may meet other accepted participants and form or complete your team before the hackathon begins.

Before the submission deadline:

  • Create or join your team on Devpost.

  • Make sure every team member has registered individually.

  • Add every team member to your Devpost project.

  • Submit only one project per team.

Dates and Location

23–25 September 2026
NOVA IMS – Campus de Campolide
Campus de Campolide, 1070-312 Lisboa, Portugal

Key Schedule 23 September

  • 17:30 – Doors open

  • 18:30 – Hack The City begins

  • Welcome and event introduction

  • Handbook and event logistics

  • Partner introductions and challenge information

24 September

  • 10:00–12:00 – Progress check with data partners

  • 16:00–18:00 – Progress check with data partners

25 September

  • 10:00 – Devpost project submission deadline

  • 13:00 – Finalist teams announced

  • 17:00 – Conference, final presentations, winner announcement and awards ceremony

The Challenge

Your team will select one of the official urban mobility challenges and develop an innovative, feasible and impactful solution.

During the hackathon, you will:

  1. Understand the challenge and its users.

  2. Explore the available information and data.

  3. Generate and test ideas.

  4. Build a prototype or proof of concept.

  5. Present your solution and its potential impact.

You do not need to arrive with a finished idea. Come ready to collaborate, experiment, build and learn.

For additional event information, visit hackthecity.pt.

Requirements

What Your Team Must Submit

Develop a solution to a real-world urban mobility challenge using data and technology.

Your team should produce a working prototype or convincing proof of concept that clearly demonstrates how the proposed solution could work in practice.

Each team must submit one Devpost project before 10:00 on 25 September 2026.

Your Devpost Project Must Include

  • Project name

  • Complete team list

  • Challenge selected

  • Problem statement: What problem are you solving?

  • Target user: Who experiences this problem or benefits from the solution?

  • Proposed solution: What did your team build?

  • Prototype: How does it work?

  • Technology and data: Which technologies, datasets, APIs or other resources did you use?

  • Impact: Why does the solution matter?

  • Implementation and scalability: How could the solution be implemented, adopted or expanded?

  • Testing instructions: Explain how the jury can access, test or review the prototype.

  • Final pitch materials : The presentation must be submited in a pdf

  • Repository link, submitted according to the instructions provided by the organizing team

Important Requirements

  • Submit only one Devpost project per team.

  • Every team member must have an individual Devpost account and be added to the project.

  • The submitted solution must be developed during Hack The City.

  • Research, generic libraries, templates and reusable code prepared beforehand are permitted.

  • An already-developed, challenge-specific solution may not be submitted as new work.

  • Any external data, software, APIs or third-party resources must be used in accordance with their applicable licences and terms.

  • Follow all access, confidentiality and usage conditions attached to datasets or resources provided by event partners.

Tell One Clear Story

Your submission and pitch should answer:

  1. The Problem – What are you solving?

  2. The Solution – What did you build?

  3. The User – Who is it for?

  4. The Prototype – How does it work?

  5. The Impact – Why does it matter?

  6. The Future – How could it be implemented or scaled?

Make your project easy to understand, access and evaluate. Show what you built, not only what you planned.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

€6,000 in prizes
First Place
€3,000 in cash
1 winner

Second Place
€2,000 in cash
1 winner

Third Place
€1,000 in cash
1 winner

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Hack The City Judging Panel

Hack The City Judging Panel
To be announced

Judging Criteria

  • Value & Impact — 30%
    Does the project solve a meaningful real-world problem or unlock a valuable opportunity? Is the target user clear, and could the solution create measurable social, environmental or economic impact?
  • Working Demo Quality — 25%
    Does the prototype work as presented? Is it clear, usable and effective in demonstrating the proposed solution?
  • Technical Differentiation — 20%
    What makes the solution technically distinctive or better than existing approaches? Does the team use data and technology in a meaningful and appropriate way?
  • Creative Storytelling — 15%
    Is the problem, solution and impact communicated through a clear, memorable and compelling presentation?
  • Team Execution & Production Potential — 10%
    Did the team execute effectively during the hackathon? Could the prototype realistically become a deployable product or service with further development?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Invite others to compete

Hackathon sponsors

Event Organizers
Partners

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