Announced Best Teams of the AI4Society Hackathon
The “AI4Society for Young Innovators – Digital Solutions for Local Challenges” hackathon, jointly organized by NALED and the Belgrade Open School (BOS), took place in Belgrade from September 18 to 20, bringing together 40 young participants from Šabac, Bačka Palanka, Novi Pazar, Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, and other cities across Serbia.
Over the course of 48 hours, 11 teams from Serbia developed digital and AI-powered solutions addressing specific challenges faced by the Municipality of Pirot. The teams worked on solutions aimed at improving citizens’ access to municipal e-services, developing dashboards for management reporting and decision-making support, as well as advancing smart waste management and citizen engagement.
The regional AI4Society competition process continued a week later with a hackathon in Tirana, bringing together 24 teams: 10 teams from Kosovo* and 14 teams from Albania. Altogether, the hackathons in Belgrade and Tirana engaged 35 teams and more than 120 young innovators.
Following the completion of both hackathons, a joint evaluation committee reviewed all submitted solutions and made its decision based on predefined assessment criteria. A total of six teams were selected: three winning teams, each receiving a $2,000 award and mentorship support, and three teams recognized for their outstanding performance, which will receive mentorship support to further develop their ideas.
Among the winning teams was the Serbian team rm -rf /local/issues, consisting of Nikola Dević, David Marković, and Aleksandar Bošnjak, who won first place in Belgrade. Mentorship support was also awarded to the Serbian team Themis, made up of Denis Dolovac, Nikola Pačarić, and Marko Vujović, whose solution was recognized as particularly promising for further development.
The AI4Society hackathons demonstrated that young people possess the knowledge, creativity, and motivation to use technology and artificial intelligence to address real challenges faced by local communities.
The Belgrade hackathon was organized by the Belgrade Open School (BOŠ), in partnership with NALED and Reputeo, with the support of Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans, as part of the AI4Society – Youth, Innovation and the Transformation of Local Communities in the Western Balkans project.
