On October 17–19, the Hack4Vilnius hackathon took place, organized this year by Sunrise Tech Park, VILNIUS TECH, and the newly joined Ignitis Group.
The event was held at VILNIUS TECH’s Creativity and Innovation Center LinkMenų fabrikas, where more than 100 participants gathered: professionals from various fields, students, and school pupils, all eager to contribute to the capital. The teams worked intensively to solve challenges relevant to the city. Now in its eighth year, the hackathon concluded by awarding three winning teams that addressed challenges in waste sorting, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and an AI-powered career advisor.
This year, special attention was given to the energy sector. Participants worked on challenges proposed by Ignitis Group and other companies and institutions in Vilnius. Throughout the hackathon, each team had the opportunity to take part in individual mentoring sessions with selected experts to ensure smoother progress. In addition, each challenge included an open data package provided by the challenge authors, helping teams develop data-driven solutions.
“ This year’s hackathon surprised us with both the diversity and maturity of the teams. From school pupils to experienced technology professionals – everyone was able to propose solutions that can realistically be implemented. What especially impressed us was how teams were able to use data and artificial intelligence to create ideas that can contribute to the future of the city and the energy sector. When evaluating the winners’ work, it was clear that when creativity, technology, and a shared goal come together, solutions emerge that can have a real impact on people’s lives,” said Lina Adomonienė, Head of IT Development at Ignitis Group.
During the event, participants not only worked intensively on developing their solutions but also prepared to present them properly to the jury. On Saturday, participants attended a talk titled “AI on the Table: Winning Hearts, Minds and Deals,” delivered by Ismael Capel, Delivery Manager at EPAM Lithuania.
Hackathon jury and evaluation criteria
On Sunday evening, a jury assembled specifically for the event — Lina Adomonienė, Head of IT Development at Ignitis Group, Gintarė Galinaitė, Transformation Project Manager at Cognizant Technology Solutions Lithuania, and Irmantas Znatinas, IT Project Manager at the Innovation and Technology Group of Vilnius City Municipality Administration — listened to the teams’ presentations and distributed a prize fund worth €6,000.
The jury evaluated solutions based on criteria such as innovation, market potential, level of execution, use of open data analysis, and overall presentation quality.
According to Gintarė Galinaitė, a long-time event partner and Cognizant Technology Solutions Lithuania representative on the jury, she was delighted to see so many energetic participants who truly believed in their ideas and actively offered ways to contribute to the city’s well-being.
“Hack4Vilnius is a gathering of creative, tech-savvy, and motivated people who aim to create meaningful solutions for the city. This year’s winners proposed solutions that encourage inclusiveness and community engagement. It is a great example that technology can be not only advanced, but also playful, engaging, and — most importantly — useful for the city and its residents. We are glad that Cognizant has been contributing to this event for many years, encouraging young talents to experiment boldly and create technology-based initiatives that help build a more vibrant city and stronger communities.”
Solutions of the winning teams
First place was awarded to the team “ecoBuddy,” who won a cash prize of €3,000. They addressed the challenge of helping Vilnius residents (and beyond) understand how and where to sort their everyday waste correctly. The teams working on this challenge had to develop a smart solution that could quickly and clearly indicate sorting locations, provide educational insights, and encourage responsible behavior.
The winning team’s solution was a prototype of a mobile app that uses artificial intelligence not only to explain how to sort different types of waste and where to take them (especially electronic waste), but also to motivate users through gamification elements.
Second place and a €2,000 cash prize went to the team “Spindesio ūkininkai.” This team tackled a challenge important to the city’s infrastructure: how to smartly develop the electric vehicle charging network in Vilnius, taking into account residents’ behavior and needs.
With the growing number of electric vehicles, smart planning of charging locations is crucial. The team had to create a solution that uses data on mobility flows, charging habits, and parking zones to help model optimal charging station placement in the city.
Their solution was a prototype of an app called “CHARGINGTON,” which, based on population flows, density, and existing stations, helps identify new EV charging locations. The app will also encourage apartment building communities to install shared charging stations by helping them find contractors and providing information about required documents.
Third place winners and recipients of a €1,000 prize were the team “The Builders.” They chose a challenge addressing the fact that traditional career searches often rely only on CVs or job titles — but do these truly reflect what suits a person? The team had to create an AI solution based on coaching principles that would help users reflect on their strengths, expectations, and values, and then recommend the organizations that best match them not only in terms of competence but also cultural fit.
“The Builders” solution is an AI-powered career advisor that functions as an interactive questionnaire. The team’s trained AI uses publicly available data on Lithuanian companies and suggests the most suitable organizations for starting or advancing one’s career based on user responses.
The eighth Hack4Vilnius once again proved that when different institutions, companies, and creative participants come together, they can create ideas that not only inspire but also have the potential to become real change. The organizers are delighted with the participants’ enthusiasm and hope that these ideas will continue to grow and contribute to an even more innovative Vilnius.
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