Balkathon 5.0
Balkathon is a regional online competition organised annually by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) that encourages Western Balkans (WB) collaboration, co-creation and real-life change, with the idea to help the region, businesses and citizens to strengthen their resilience to global challenges. Balkathon brings together young innovative people, start-ups, digital innovation centres, science parks, universities, small and medium enterprises, etc. from the Western Balkan region in order to trigger digital innovative and practical business solutions in different areas.
In July 2020, RCC organised the first-ever regional competition in digital smart solutions Balkathon, as an agile solution to support the region to recover from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. So far, four Balkathon editions have been successfully organised, and reached over 300 registrations since the beginning of the competition. As of March 2023, Balkathon is officially the trademark of the regional competition in innovative digital solutions.
The fifth edition of Balkathon will focus on fresh innovative digital ideas and solutions in different thematic areas that will mark this year’s competition.
Balkathon 5.0 is focused on business-oriented digital solutions that can be related to different areas, among which are transport, green, energy, tourism, smart cities, AI, robotics, etc. As it was the case with the previous competitions, digital solutions must include innovative technological ideas with a clear explanation of their implementation and sustainability in one of the above mentioned areas.
Balkathon 5.0 is open for teams composed of people up to 35 years coming from Western Balkan economies. Teams are encouraged to include amongst their members qualified individuals including students; legal entity including start-ups; non-governmental and educational institutions; non-governmental and educational institutions.
All shortlisted participants of Balkathon 5.0 will get a two-day mentoring programme with experienced experts. Shortlisted will get the opportunity to pitch their idea regionally, and an opportunity to win on of six 7.000 euro awards and presentation of their idea at the Western Balkans Digital Summit.
Moreover, in an attempt to boost our youth from early on, the RCC will provide two additional special recognition awards to the best ranked high school teams in the amount of 4,000€ each. RCC reserves the right to award more than two awards, depending on the quality of the ideas received.
Applications are available here, and are open until 5 July 2024 (12:00h CET).
Before filling out the application form please read the Balkathon guidelines carefully in order to prepare all needed information and documents.
If you seek a place to turn your ideas into masterpieces you are at the right place. Apply with your idea for Balkathon 5.0.
Who can compete?
Balkathon 5.0 is open for teams of people up to 35 years of age coming from Western Balkan economies. Teams are encouraged to include amongst their members qualified individuals such as students; legal entities including start-ups; and non-governmental and educational institutions.
When?
Registration for competition is open starting from today 21 May until 5 July 2024. The final competition followed by announcement of the winners at the Award Ceremony will be held in September 2024.
Since July 2020 when RCC organised the first-ever regional competition in digital smart solutions, this initiative supported creation of 22 original Made in Western Balkans digital products. Last year, the RCC awarded seven solutions from the region in areas of sustainable tourism, green economy, and entrepreneurship. The provided financial support has enabled teams to further develop their digital solutions.
All you need to know about Balkathon is available at www.rcc.int/balkathon
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