AI Readiness Hackathon in Saudi Arabia 2026

AI for Good, an initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), announces the AI Readiness Hackathon in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This in-person hackathon aims to engage students, researchers, and professionals in developing use cases related to artificial intelligence in fields such as education, agriculture, health, and finance.

The hackathon focuses on measuring AI readiness and building use cases aligned with ITU standards, in addition to contributing to the development of an international knowledge base on AI policies and strategies.

Responsibilities

1. Design and present use cases in the fields of education, agriculture, health, or finance.
2. Align the use cases with the ITU-T Y.3172 machine learning pipeline.
3. Link the idea to the factors and dimensions of AI readiness identified in ITU AI Readiness reports.
4. Collect and organize national papers and policies related to artificial intelligence, with reference links.
5. Contribute to developing the knowledge base for the ITU AI-RE Toolkit.
6. Attend weekly mentoring sessions and participate in the final evaluation.

• Cash prizes with a total value of up to USD 3,000.
• First-place prize worth USD 1,200.
• Second-place prize worth USD 800.
• Third-place prize worth USD 500.
• A special women’s prize worth USD 500 for teams led by a woman.
• Weekly mentoring sessions with ITU experts.
• An opportunity to contribute to international efforts to build AI standards.
• An opportunity to collaborate with participants from diverse backgrounds in the field of artificial intelligence.

• The hackathon is open to everyone.
• Applications may be submitted individually or as part of a team.
• The team must not include more than 4 members.
• A use case related to one of the required fields must be submitted.
• Reference links must be provided for the materials proposed for the knowledge base.
• Teams wishing to compete for the women’s prize must be led by a woman.

Timeline

1. Registration and submission of the use case title: from May 1 to July 10, 2026.
2. Weekly mentoring sessions: from July 10 to August 31, 2026.
3. Final evaluation in Riyadh: September 14, 2026.

Application deadline:

July 10, 2026.

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