July Hackathon 2026 — Participation Guideline
Online Edition · 28 – 30 July 2026
In memory of Jahiduzzaman Tanvin and Sheikh Ashabul Yamin, and in tribute to Jogajog.
1. Who Can Participate
- Developers, software engineers, hardware and embedded enthusiasts, UI/UX designers, cybersecurity practitioners, data scientists, students, and independent innovators.
- Open to Bangladeshis anywhere in the world. You do not need to be living in Bangladesh.
- At least one member of each team must currently reside in Bangladesh. Everyone else may take part from abroad.
- No age restriction. Anyone can take part.
- No prior hackathon experience required.
- Organising committee members, judges, and mentors are not eligible to compete.
2. Team Rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Team size | 1–3 members (solo entries welcome) |
| Composition | Cross-institution teams allowed |
| Team lead | One member registers for the team and is the single point of contact |
| Multiple teams | A person may join only one team |
| Roster lock | No changes after registration closes on 27 July |
| Mentors | Advisers are allowed but may not write code or build assets for the team |
3. Tracks
Every team selects exactly one track at registration.
Track A — Crisis Tech
Technology that keeps people alive, informed, and connected when normal infrastructure fails.
- Communication without internet — mesh networking, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Direct, LoRa, peer-to-peer relay, store-and-forward messaging
- Feature-phone and button-phone services — SMS, USSD, IVR, voice-first interfaces
- Low-resource operation — offline-first apps, small footprints, low-bandwidth sync, long battery life
- Disaster response — flood and earthquake early warning, shelter and relief coordination, missing-person registries, damage mapping
- Protest and civic safety — emergency broadcast, safe check-in, verified information distribution, censorship-resistant publishing
- Resilient hardware — solar or hand-crank power, ruggedised sensors, community relay nodes
Dedicated to the spirit of Jogajog, which kept people connected during the internet shutdowns of the July Revolution.
Track B — Spirit of July
Any project that upholds, documents, or advances the ideals of the July Revolution — justice, truth, courage, and civic dignity.
- Archiving and preserving testimony, media, and records of the movement
- Misinformation detection, fact-checking, and source verification
- Transparency, accountability, and open-data tools for citizens
- Memorial, educational, and storytelling experiences, including games and interactive media
- Civic participation, rights awareness, and access-to-justice tools
- Support platforms for the injured, the bereaved, and affected families
4. Timeline
Fully online. The core build is a continuous 72-hour sprint. All times are Bangladesh Standard Time (UTC+6).
| Phase | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration opens | 25 July |
| Registration closes | 27 July, 23:59 |
| Build sprint begins | 28 July, 00:00 |
| Submission deadline | 30 July, 23:59 |
| Social media engagement window | 30 July – 1 August, 23:59 |
| Judging | 31 July – 1 August |
| Results announced | 2 August |
The submission deadline is hard. Late submissions are not accepted.
5. What You Can Build
Anything. There is no restricted stack.
- Form factor: mobile app, web app, desktop app, CLI, game, hardware/IoT device, bot, browser extension, or a hybrid
- Language and framework: entirely your choice
- Third-party services: open-source libraries, public APIs, cloud services, and pre-trained models are permitted, with attribution
- AI assistance: allowed — disclose which tools you used in your submission
- Hardware: if a live demo is impractical, a working prototype video plus schematics is acceptable
6. Code & Originality Rules
- All core work must be produced during the 28–30 July sprint. Pre-existing boilerplate, design systems, and open-source dependencies are fine; a pre-built product with a new coat of paint is not.
- You may bring a prior idea, but the implementation must start during the sprint. Declare any prior work at registration.
- Plagiarised code, purchased submissions, and re-submissions of past hackathon projects mean immediate disqualification.
- Repositories must be public at submission time and include an open-source licence.
- Commit history is part of the evidence. Do not squash the entire project into one commit at the deadline.
7. Submission
All submissions go through the event website — [FILL: URL]. Nothing submitted by email or social media is counted.
A submission is complete only when it includes:
- Project title and one-line pitch (max 25 words)
- Track — Crisis Tech or Spirit of July
- Problem statement — who is affected, and when it matters (max 200 words)
- Solution description — what you built and how it works (max 400 words)
- Public repository link with a README covering setup and run instructions
- Demo video — 3 minutes maximum, unlisted YouTube or Drive link, Bangla or English
- Live link or installable build — deployed URL, APK, or binary, if applicable
- Slide deck — 6–10 slides, PDF
- Tech stack and third-party components, including AI tools used
- Public Facebook post link (see Section 8)
- Team member list with roles
Incomplete submissions are not judged.
8. Public Engagement — 20% of Total Score
Part of this hackathon is getting your idea in front of people, and in front of other builders. Two things are counted: engagement on your project's Facebook post, and GitHub stars on your project repository. Together they carry 20% of your final score, split evenly at 10% each.
How it works
- After submitting, publish one public Facebook post about your project.
- The post must include: project name, track, a one-line description, your demo video or a link to it, and the hashtag #JulyHackathon2026.
- Tag or link the official event page so organisers can verify the post.
- Submit the post URL through the website. Only the URL submitted through the website is counted — one post per team.
- The post must remain public and unedited in reach settings until 1 August, 23:59.
- Your repository must be public and its URL submitted through the website, so stars can be counted.
How it is scored
Both components are measured at 1 August, 23:59, and both are scored relative to the best in your track: the highest count sets the ceiling and every other team is scored proportionally against it.
| Component | Weight | Counted |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook post | 10% | Reactions and shares on the submitted post |
| GitHub repository | 10% | Stars on the submitted repository |
- Comments, views, forks, watchers, and engagement on any other post or repository are not counted.
- A repository that is private, deleted, or renamed at the deadline scores zero on the GitHub component.
Rules
- Buying reactions, shares, or followers, using bot or farm accounts, or running paid boosts is prohibited and results in a zero on this component and possible disqualification.
- Buying stars, using bot or throwaway GitHub accounts, and star-for-star exchange rings are prohibited on the same terms.
- Reaction-swap groups and mass-tagging spam are treated the same way.
- Organisers may audit engagement patterns and will discount clearly inauthentic activity.
- Posts that violate the Code of Conduct score zero regardless of engagement.
9. Judging Criteria
| Criterion | Weight | What judges look for |
|---|---|---|
| Impact & relevance to track | 25% | Does it solve a real problem for real people? Does it belong in its track? |
| Technical execution | 20% | Does it work? Is the engineering sound and non-trivial? |
| Public engagement | 20% | Facebook reactions and shares, plus GitHub stars, 10% each (Section 8) |
| Innovation & originality | 15% | Is the approach genuinely new, or a sharper take on a known problem? |
| Feasibility & resilience | 10% | Can it run in the field — low bandwidth, low power, low-end devices, hostile conditions? |
| Presentation & usability | 10% | Is the demo clear? Is the interface usable by the intended user? |
Track A projects are additionally assessed on whether they degrade gracefully — how well they function with no internet, no electricity, or on a button phone.
Judges' decisions are final. Scores are not published individually.
10. Intellectual Property
- Teams retain full ownership of everything they build.
- By submitting, you grant the organisers a non-exclusive right to showcase your project name, description, screenshots, and demo video in event coverage and promotional material.
- Projects must be released under an OSI-approved open-source licence (MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL, or similar). Track A projects are strongly encouraged to use a permissive licence so the work can be picked up and deployed quickly in an emergency.
11. Code of Conduct
This event is dedicated to the memory of Jahiduzzaman Tanvin and Sheikh Ashabul Yamin. We hold ourselves to that standard.
- Treat every participant, mentor, judge, and volunteer with respect. Harassment, discrimination, and abuse in any form result in removal.
- Do not submit projects that promote violence, target individuals or communities, or spread disinformation.
- Projects handling personal data must state what they collect and why. Do not build surveillance tooling.
- Report concerns to
[FILL: conduct email]. Reports are handled confidentially.
12. Support
- Website:
[FILL] - Email:
[FILL] - Discord / Messenger group:
[FILL] - Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1587478822794562/
13. FAQ
Can I participate solo? Yes, teams are 1–3 members.
Do I need a team before registering? No — register solo and use the team-matching channel [FILL].
Is there a registration fee? No. Taking part is free.
Can I use an existing open-source project as a base? Yes, as a dependency. Not as your submission.
What if my hardware doesn't arrive in time? Submit a simulation or bench prototype with a video. Judges assess the working portion.
Can we submit in Bangla? Yes. Video and deck may be in Bangla or English. README should be in English or bilingual.
Can one team enter both tracks? No — one team, one submission, one track.
Judging ends 1 August but the social window closes 1 August too. Why? Judges score the project on 31 July – 1 August; the engagement component is computed after the window closes at 23:59 and added to the total. Results follow on 2 August.