Baltic AI Hackathon

From 4 to 6 October Riga Technical University (RTU) will host the first Baltic AI Hackathon. The event invites students of all levels and study programmes in the Baltic States to use the limitless possibilities of artificial intelligence to tackle real societal challenges.

The hackathon is organised by the Science and Innovation Centre of Riga Technical University (RTU) in cooperation with Meta, IBM, Tallinn University of Technology, University of Tartu and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.

During the hackathon, students will develop generative artificial intelligence solutions, creating conceptual solutions for education, social inclusion, sustainability and public service challenges

defined by Riga Stradiņš University, University of Tartu, Latvian State Radio and Television Centre, Road Transport Directorate, Consumer Rights Protection Centre and Central Financial Contracts Agency. IBM will provide the hackathon participants with a high-performance infrastructure or sandbox with access to Meta’s Large Language Model “Llama3”. This will allow real-time development and testing of concepts for generative AI solutions supported by high-performance computers.

“Baltic AI Hackathon” participants from all over the Baltics will compete for the main prize – the chance to visit the Meta FAIR AI lab in Paris, France. The hackathon participants will also receive valuable incentive prizes.

“Latvia’s ambition is to become the friendliest country in the world to implement reliable AI. Hackathons are important in realising this ambition as they provide a safe environment for experimentation and idea generation, facilitating the faster emergence of innovative solutions in a short period of time. Using common platforms, experts from different fields can collaborate, generate and test new ideas. We are currently building the capacity to develop and implement these ideas in public administration, including prototyping through the national Digital Academy programme. We will also be developing a programme for targeted implementation of AI innovations in the public sector,” said Gatis Ozols, Deputy State Secretary for Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development.

The event will take place at RTU Institute of Architecture and Design, 6 Ķīpsalas Street. More information about the hackathon and registration until 1 October. The number of participants is limited.

Given the technical complexity of the hackathon, registered participants will have the opportunity to take part in online information events prior to the hackathon, which will take place on 24 September and 1 October. During these events, they will be introduced to the technologies to be used in the hackathon and the challenges prepared by the partners.