Innovate Together Towards AI-Humanitarian Space · 2024

Disaster Hackathon 2.0

The second Disaster Hackathon invited a new cohort of young innovators to propose, develop and prototype solutions to real-world disaster management needs, with a strategic focus on artificial intelligence in the humanitarian space.

teams submitted ideas

academic institutions

campus ambassadors from 52 institutions

finalists built prototypes

Organised with

FOREWARN Bangladesh
Department of Meteorology, University of Dhaka
Department of Disaster Science and Climate Resilience, University of Dhaka
Bangladesh Meteorological Department
Open Mapping Hub – Asia Pacific
YouthMappers
Bangladesh Open Innovation Lab
Centre for Resilience and Youth
Centre for Data Science Research
Start Network

About Hackathon 2.0

What happened

Disaster Hackathon 2.0 was organised by FOREWARN Bangladesh with the University of Dhaka and a wide group of partners. Over five months, teams of three to five students and graduates from any discipline took on one of 10 challenges, from hazard-specific early warning systems and machine-learning predictions of extreme weather to crisis communication, e-risk governance and disaster supply chains.

Mentors from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the Department of Disaster Management, the Cyclone Preparedness Programme, universities and the FOREWARN Experts guided the teams, helping them turn their ideas into practical, scalable prototypes grounded in open data and community needs.

A new campus ambassador programme, run with the Centre for Resilience and Youth, carried the hackathon to universities across the country.

The journey

129 May – 14 Jul 2024Kick-off and CREATEA hybrid kick-off at the University of Dhaka opened the call. Teams pitched their ideas in a two-minute video.

212 Aug – 18 Oct 2024CHECKThe top 25 teams refined their concepts through virtual mentoring, feasibility analysis and stakeholder input.

327 – 30 Oct 2024CULTIVATEThe top 5 teams built prototypes at a four-day residential workshop at CCDB Climate Centre, Gazipur.

431 Oct 2024AwardsThe top 3 teams presented to the audience at the award ceremony at the University of Dhaka.

Results

The winners

The jury chose three winners from the five finalists after their prototype presentations. Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan, Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka, presented the awards. Prizes were given as gifts in kind.

Winner

Team SIDR

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and University of Dhaka

An AI-driven cyclone warning system that combines cyclone prediction with personalised evacuation guidelines, building trust in warnings among coastal residents.

Gifts in kind worth BDT 100,000

1st runner-up02

Team Sonderers

University of Dhaka and BRAC University

Digital waste management apps that use data analytics and GPS tracking for real-time updates on waste collection and disposal in cities such as Dhaka.

Gifts in kind worth BDT 80,000

2nd runner-up03

Team Relief Tech Squad

University of Dhaka

Relief Sync, a platform that coordinates charitable organisations so that post-disaster relief is distributed more fairly, transparently and efficiently.

Gifts in kind worth BDT 70,000

Where it went next

Team SIDR's idea has since been developed further with experts from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department's Storm Warning Centre into an AI-driven tool that generates impact-based cyclone guidelines for Bangladesh.

Read the story on PreventionWeb

Finalists

Meet the top 5

Five teams reached the CULTIVATE stage. Alongside the three winners, two more teams built prototypes to protect coastal and riverbank communities.

Photo: Team SIDR