Held on March 8th - 11th 2018, was the first-ever Vatican hackathon.
The event was attended by 120 students from all over the globe with diverse academic, regardless their ethnics and religious background. There, they participate in tackling three ambitious domains: migrants and refugees, social inclusion, and interfaith dialogue.
"How wonderful would it be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation would come along with more equality and social inclusion. How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us," said Pope Francis during his TED Talk in 2017.
The goal for this hackathon isn't about marketing for the Catholic Church. Instead, want it really wants is to inspire and support young generations to help spread its core values, not the religion.
The opening ceremony was held in Vatican City in Rome.
Participants were selected through a combination of partner universities providing teams and an open application. Any undergraduate or graduate student can apply. The only requirements are participants are chosen based on academic accomplishments, having innovative thinking, and an alignment with the mission statement.
The biggest difference between previous hackathons and this one, according to those that have participated in multiple events, is the monumental surroundings, Also, there were 50-50 equal between male and female participants, having 60 top mentors, and the shift of focus from creating a revenue to one that focuses on improving humanity.
This is because Vatican is unlike Silicon Valley.
Winners of the hackathon included an app that helps refugees prove their reliability to employers, a crowd-funded job board for homeless people, and a platform that connects organizations and volunteers to do social good.
