Cassini Hackathon took place this weekend in Tirana for the first time in Albania. This is the first year that Albania has been added to the map of this competition for participating teams. The Cassini Hackathon, supported by the European Commission, was held in 10 European countries, including Albania, where it was organized by ICTSlab.
The event began on Friday, September 13, with the live opening of CASSINI Europe and a welcome speech by Lorenc Çala, Director of the Security and Defense Innovation Center. He emphasized the need for new ideas and initiatives in sustainable development, providing concrete examples like the possibility of monitoring the coastline. Kushtrim Shala, Board Director at ICTSlab, highlighted the fact that Albanian startups have advanced ideas and expressed expectations that we will have winning teams capable of competing with the winners from other countries at the European level.
This year’s theme was: ‘Environment and the Green Transition.’ The hackathon was held on September 13, 14, and 15 in 10 European countries, involving professionals who have ideas for sustainable development.
But which teams participated in this edition of the Hackathon?
- Congreen – Combining cement with moss spores to reduce CO2 emissions
- IKARUS – A system for preventing fires using machine learning
- CROPVISOR – Data-driven consultancy for farmers to plant the most productive crops in specific areas
- Tirana Goes Green – A platform for donations for city greening and promoting the use of bicycles by promoting bike businesses and mapping bike lanes
- COASTALERT – A platform to prevent and predict coastal erosion
- ECOTOWN – A platform for reporting pollution in cities
The second day of the CASSINI Hackathon kicked off with group work, accompanied by mentors helping to shape their ideas. ICTSlab connected live with the broadcast from CASSINI Europe to discuss the experience of this event in Tirana. Additionally, during the second day, the CASSINI Hackathon teams welcomed Mr. Murat Sahin, UNICEF Representative in Albania, who gave a motivational speech on sustainable development and the environment.
The young participants worked tirelessly for 72 hours, challenging morning fatigue and engaging to achieve excellent results in solving climate challenges using data from the European Union’s space program. The jury evaluated the presentations, which were conducted in a format of 3-minute presentations followed by 2 minutes of Q&A. All the teams demonstrated exceptional work by creating innovative products.
After tough competition and numerous ideas, the winners of this edition were announced: CROPVISOR, which took first place and won a prize of 2000 euros, and IKARUS, which took second place with a prize of 1000 euros. The CropVisor team will represent Albania tomorrow on the European stage, competing among the winning teams from the other participating countries.
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