Public AI Hackathon · Antwerp

Build for the public.

One day building AI tools with the officials who serve our communities.

Date

16.09.2026

Location

AP Hogeschool

Apply to build Learn more →

Solving real problems.

We interviewed ten local economy officers. Three problems came up repeatedly:

Who's active is unclear. Registers list far more entries than there are businesses actually active.
Rules are scattered across local, provincial, Flemish and federal sources.
Knowledge is undocumented, scattered across inboxes and individuals.

What gets built is shared with all 58 local governments of the province.

Local economy
officer

“One of our biggest problems is simply knowing which entrepreneurs are actually active in our municipality.”

Local economy
officer

“That knowledge is in my head.”

Local economy
officer

“Sometimes it's seven websites and six PDFs to answer one question.”

More than coders.

Registration is open to builders, designers, operators and domain experts. The strongest teams combine technical depth with practical municipal judgement.

EngineerTurns messy data, maps and documents into something that actually runs by the end of the day.

Problem-solverFinds the real problem, frames the journey and keeps the team aimed at one outcome that matters.

DesignerMakes it clear, trustworthy and genuinely usable for someone who is not technical.

Administrative proKnows how public services really work, and what actually survives a Monday morning.

Rewards & Credits

All 58 governmentsWinning builds are shared with every local government in the province.

Sponsor credits👀

Deputy & pressThe provincial deputy and press attend the final.

…and moreMore rewards to be revealed.