Eligibility

  • Open to high school, college, and emerging professionals (≤3 years experience).

  • Teams of 2–5 recommended (solo allowed).

  • Mixed skills encouraged (product, design, data, engineering, community).

Team Formation & Conduct

  • Form teams before/at kickoff; no mid-judging team changes.

  • Be respectful, inclusive, and abide by the Code of Conduct.

  • Accessibility matters—please request accommodations at check-in.

Project Scope

Build a solution for Chicago aligned to at least one theme:
Civic Tech • Sustainability • Mobility • Public Health • Education • Small Business Support
Prioritize real utility: reduce harm, increase access, strengthen trust.

Allowed Tools & Data

  • Any programming languages, frameworks, cloud tools, and open datasets.

  • Use city/open data or your own data with consent; no sensitive personal data.

  • Third-party assets (SDKs, UI kits, models) are allowed with proper attribution and valid licenses.

Use of Generative AI (Intentional AI)

  • AI is encouraged. Disclose models, prompts/workflows, datasets/APIs, and known risks/mitigations.

Originality & Work Period

  • New work created during the hackathon. You may reuse public libraries, your boilerplate, and pre-existing datasets/models with attribution.

  • No previously submitted or production products.

Live Pitch & Demo

  • 5 minutes total: 3 min live demo + 2 min Q&A. Hard stop at 5:00.

  • If tech fails, we’ll play your recorded demo (≤5 min).

Judging Criteria (100 pts)

  • Community Impact (30) – Clear user/problem fit; measurable benefit

  • Intentional AI (20) – Ethical, transparent, deployable

  • Technical Execution (20) – Architecture, code, data, ops plan

  • Design & UX (15) – Accessibility and first-use clarity

  • Story & Purpose (15) – Your “Why,” stakeholders, adoption path

Disqualification

  • Plagiarism, IP violations, unsafe data handling, harassment, or rule violations may result in disqualification.

IP & Licensing

  • Teams retain ownership. By submitting, you grant organizers permission to showcase for event publicity.

  • Include licenses for code/models/assets; respect all third-party terms.

Media & Privacy

  • Attendance implies consent to photography/recording for event recap.

  • Keep any volunteer/participant data private and secure.