Cyprus’ largest open hackathon, HackTech organised by AdTech Holding, concluded its fourth edition in Limassol in November, bringing together more than 100 developers for a 48-hour challenge centred on this year’s theme, Tech vs Wildfires.

The event, funded by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU through the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan, aimed to turn the island’s recent experience with devastating fires into practical technological solutions for prevention, real-time protection and post-fire recovery.

Over two days, 25 teams worked across three tracks, early-warning systems, real-time monitoring and post-fire assessment, developing prototypes ranging from drone-based surveillance to AI-powered risk prediction and volunteer-coordination tools.

According to AdTech Holding, the focus on a single, urgent national challenge helped concentrate the community’s effort and deepen collaboration between developers, public authorities and emergency-response professionals.

AdTech CEO Alex Vasekin said the tragic events of the summer had resonated across the tech community. He noted that hosting the hackathon was “an opportunity to unite bright minds around ideas that can help shape a safer and more resilient future for Cyprus”.

He added that the ideas produced this year showed once again that HackTech “is not just another coding weekend”.

Tech vs wildfires

The initiative also drew strong institutional backing. The Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Nicodemos Damianou, attended the event, outlining the government’s ongoing work on wildfire prevention and the role hackathon participants can play in supporting national preparedness.

Support came from across the ecosystem, including Mayflower as exclusive platinum sponsor, Nexxie Group as gold sponsor, TechIsland and i-Con as partners, and The Warehouse, which hosted the event for a second year. Uptown Square and City Friends Club offered additional support.

Despite a short promotional period, interest exceeded expectations, prompting a joint committee of government representatives and AdTech executives to select the strongest and most practical submissions.

AdTech CAO Elena Dolya said the volume and quality of ideas reflected how many people recognised opportunities for improvement and “were not afraid to step up and act”.

The judging panel brought together expertise from IT, business and emergency response, including representatives from the Deputy Ministry, Nexxie Group, Mayflower, the Limassol Fire Department and the national ambulance service.

Mentors from AdTech, Quadcode and Exness worked alongside teams throughout the hackathon, helping refine concepts and prepare prototypes for the final presentations.

After a closely contested Demo Fest, the €30,000 prize fund was awarded to three teams.
Nexxians took first place with a federated, AI-driven Cyprus Fire Digital Twin System designed to support more accurate situational awareness and decision-making during wildfires.

Second place went to Cold Reload, which built a community-driven platform to connect volunteers, organisers and people in need during emergency situations.

DasoPhylax secured third place with a monitoring system for large forest areas using a wireless camera and an inference unit built on microcontrollers, enabling year-round alerts.

Participants also voted for a People’s Choice Award, which went to Re:Earth for EchoGuard, a solution that “gives nature a voice” by turning satellite and AI data into sound and visualisations that help communities understand post-fire risk and recovery.

Four editions in, HackTech has established itself as a platform where developers, public authorities and private companies come together to test ideas with real-world impact.

This year’s wildfire focus, organisers said, demonstrated again that the island’s tech ecosystem is willing to respond when the challenge is close to home.