A hackathon is an innovation contest where participants compete to create the best solution to a given problem. The Smart Cities Hackathon 2023 provides a unique experiential learning experience.​ It encourages and develops creative thinking, entrepreneurship, and problem-solving skills by bringing together students from diverse backgrounds to work together on addressing real-world challenges. ​ The teams receive support from subject-specific mentors and technical specialists. They then showcase their solutions in a fun and lively environment to be adjudicated by a panel of experts consisting of investors, partners, school representatives, and domain specialists.

The event is completely free! We will provide food, snacks, light refreshments, and drinks as well as merchandise!

Any student or alumni from Seneca College is welcome! Students from other learning institutions can also join, provided a Seneca student is included in their team.

Yes, you can! Seneca Alumni are welcome.

Diversity! To increase their chances of winning, a team should possess a well-rounded skill set that includes strong communication skills, leadership abilities, project management expertise, engineering skills, and proficiency in software development such as front-end, coding, back-end, and data if software is a part of the solution. A balanced combination of these skills will give a team a competitive advantage and make them more likely to succeed in the hackathon.

The hackathon will consist of an all-virtual qualifier session on May 2-3, which will feature keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and technical and subject matter breakouts. Participants will be required to submit a playbook and a 4-minute video presentation for judging by a panel. The finalists will be selected based on their submissions and will compete on May 5th and 6th. May 5th will be a virtual event with keynote speeches, breakout sessions, and mentoring opportunities. On Saturday, May 6th, the event will be held in-person and run all day at the Seneca's Centre for Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE). Breakfast, lunch dinner and snacks are provided. Virtual accommodations will be made available for participants from out of town or out of the country.

No! Our hackathon is highly inclusive to all groups: female? first timer? Junior? introvert? International? Everyone is highly welcome. Multi-discipline and diverse skills are sought in each team. FUN is our priority.

Participating in our hackathon offers a variety of benefits! You’ll gain industry exposure, receive Seneca micro-credentials, and participate in experiential learning that you can reference on your resume. You also get the chance to network with industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, peers, and more! Most importantly, you’ll have fun! Our hackathon is a well-deserved post-covid innovation fest.

The minimum is 2 participants per team and the maximum is 5 participants per team. We will help solo participants team up. The team has to have a minimum of one student from Seneca College or a partner school/institute. We will help you team up if you’re registering from a non-partnered institute.

Registration closes on April 29th at 11:59 PM