2026 WMGIC x PIT-UN Tech for Change Hackathon

This stream focuses on the increasing proliferation of synthetic media and how it leads to a lack of general trust. The main theme of this stream is the widespread misinformation spread through AI generated fraud and other synthetic media. Students are asked to explore how public interest technologies can be used to help societies rebuild trust and evidentiary ground without falling into censorship or “fact-checking” optimism. Students will present ideas on how to design infrastructure, standards, or tools to help repair trust and improve interpretive transparency.

This stream focuses on the effects of climate change and the issues with real-life implementation of current technologies. It not only asks about general global warming public interest technologies, but the distributive issues that occur in many current solutions being implemented. Students are asked to explore how public interest technologies can help governments and communities to confront the real limits and obstacles of climate adaptation. Specifically, students are asked to pitch tools that would help make climate trade-offs participatory and just for the people who are most severely affected by the current climate crisis.

This stream focuses on quickly advancing medical technology and the lack of governance framework to accompany it. As there has been a rapid advancement in biomedical science, especially synthetic biology, questions of ethics and biosecurity have been raised. Students are asked to explore how public interest technologies can be used to address this asymmetry in development and ensure that biomedical innovation remains accountable and ethical. They are asked to develop strategies and tools for how to use public interest technologies to strengthen ethical oversight, public understanding, and inclusivity.

This stream focuses on how forced displacement has become a defining condition of the present international state. As forced migration continues to take place across the globe, for reasons of war, oppression, famine, climate change, and more, there is an increasing concern over the balance of mobility and the right to stay. Students are asked to explore how public interest technologies can help support both mobility and rootedness without compromising one or the other. They are asked to present ideas of how governments and institutions can avoid normalizing displacement as an acceptable outcome.

• This event invites students from every discipline to work together on community-driven solutions that advance equity and address global injustices through the study and application of technology for the public good.
• Students will be guided by Mentors from diverse disciplines as they discuss and deliberate their proposed action plans together.
• Judges evaluate the proposals and select one winning team from each stream.

• We believe in students with creative perspectives on important issues and this is your chance to showcase that! Compete internationally to showcase your innovative capabilities. The challenge offers interdisciplinary cooperation among students and field-leading experts.

• Teams of three to five undergrad students are invited to compete in this challenge.
  • Universities registering more than one team may be asked to combine into a larger group who will then compete against similar sized teams.
  • Individual students, judges, and mentors from all nationalities are welcome to register.
• No prior knowledge or prerequisites required.
• All fields of study are welcome to compete.

• The WMGIC x PIT-UN Tech for Change Hackathon will take place on April 9–10, 2026.