The founder of Alibaba Cloud Wang Jian emphasises that the future of artificial intelligence lies not just in algorithms but in creativity and imagination– building applications that cuts through the noise to build meaning solutions.
Building on this philosophy, the mission of this annual Hong Kong-wide university hackathon competition is to encourage the application and entrepreneurship of multimodal Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies towards socially beneficial purposes and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Organised in Hong Kong, the month-long hackathon provides students with an immersive environment to collaborate with peers, research pressing social issues, develop diverse competencies, and prototype innovative solutions. The event culminates with teams presenting their ideas to a distinguished panel of judges, including academic experts and leaders from industry and the community.
The objectives of the event are to:
- Encourage capacity building for the responsible and ethical use of AI through creating real-world innovations towards social impact.
- Foster students’ 21-st century competencies, including communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and citizenship.
- Offer opportunities for multidisciplinary student networking and friendships within and across Hong Kong universities.
- Promote a platform for education, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and start-up incubation towards a social innovation ecosystem.
Started in 2023 by the University of Hong Kong, the event was expanded in 2024 to a partnership with three other universities: City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The 2025 event is currently organised in partnership with all eight publicly funded Hong Kong universities. For respective universities, the hackathon is a nexus for intra-institutional cooperation and networking, transversing faculties and academic support units, as well as externally with local-based organisations and communities.
This initiative is generously funded and supported by the University Grants Committees’ Fund for Innovative Tech-in-Education (FITE) grant.
Contact Us
If you are interested in further information about the event, please contact the current coordinating university (The University of Hong Kong) with the details below:
Address: Office 136, Common Core Office, Main Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong S.A.R China.
Phone: (852) 3917 4957
Email: [email protected]