1. Can hub leads also join the hackathon as participants?

Hub leads are a distinct role to participants. Hub leads will serve as advisors and organizers of the communities they serve, representing the place as a whole. Hub leads can also be part of teams and work on hackathon projects, as participants, however it is their responsibility to ensure this is not compromising the role of hub lead being fulfilled.

2. What are the prizes?

There are three phases of prizes in this program:

Phase 1: November – December

In-Person Hackathon Hosting Stipends

• 9 Hubs will be selected to host local hackathons.
• Each selected Hub will receive a stipend:
  • $3,500 for Anglophone teams (6 Hubs selected)
  • $4,000 for Francophone teams (2 Hubs selected)
• All selected Hubs will also receive ongoing mentorship and networking opportunities, including participation in the hackathon Train-the-Trainer program.

Phase 2: December – February

Team Prizes (Post-Hackathon Awards)

• A total of 30,000 ADA will be distributed as prizes to top-performing teams from each local hackathon.
• Within each location:
  • 🥇 1st Place
  • 🥈 2nd Place
  • 🥉 3rd Place
  • 🪙Participation Rewards
• The Top 5 overall winning teams across all locations will also:
  • Receive additional ADA prizes.
  • Be invited to travel to Nairobi for the next phase.

Phase 3: February (Cardano Africa Tech Summit)

Hackathon Intensive & Representation at CATS

• The Top 5 teams across Africa will represent their regions at the Cardano Africa Tech Summit (CATS) in Nairobi.
• Representatives will participate in an in-person Hackathon Intensive incubator for advanced mentorship and project development.
• Hub leads may accompany their winning teams where appropriate.

3. Can more than one project from the same country or hub win?

Yes. Winners are selected based on project quality but not location. If more than one strong project comes from the same country or hub, they can all qualify.

4. Where can I find more information about the hackathon?

The docs are the knowledge repository for the hackathon, found at docs.wada.org . Here is the telegram group  to join for further coordination, which was shared in Luma registration confirmation and is linked in every Navbar. We will be making a dedicated Hubs telegram group shortly.

5. What are the project categories/ tracks?

We are not fixing categories in advance. Instead, teams will define local problem statements from their own communities during the enrolment period. What would usually be “Categories” such as smart contracts, NFTs, scaling, etc., will be real use-cases to apply technology, that emerge from the enrolment period.

6. How will judging be done?

Hubs will support teams in making their projects available for evaluation under a dedicated evaluation subdomain. Links to this will be shared in due course. This view into your projects is intended to surface both the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of your work for specialists to assess holistically, from multiple angles. We are inviting aligned and reputable organisations across relevant fields, including regenerative development and blockchain, who will provide feedback on which projects they recommend moving forwards. We will share any evaluation frameworks they bring as soon as they become available. The more self-evaluation you make visible, the better.

7. Will there be support for teams who spend resources but don’t win?

We will try to make the prizes fair so that as many participants can be awarded either through (a) hosting a local hackathon, or (b) in the December prize batch. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee any winners or offer any reimbursement of costs spent in participating in this hackathon if the above are not met.

8. How will participant registration be linked with specific hubs?

The first step is a general sign-up form. Now, participants need to fill out more detailed onboarding information, at which point you can associate with a specific hub, and provide other profile information.

9. Can participants be filtered early to avoid wasting time?

There will be an initial selection of 10 hubs that will receive funding to run in-person hackathons. At that point if your hub is not selected you are still welcome to submit projects aiming for “Top 5 OVERALL” but accept to be participating at your own cost and risk.

10. Will there be clear communication materials?

Yes. In addition to the website, a short explainer video will be produced and shared on social media. This will help people understand the hackathon process easily even if they don’t read the website.

11. What happens next?

Please see the CATS website — cats.wada.org  — for information about the current stage.

• Onboarding calls will share more details and slides.
• Criteria and prize structures will be finalized soon.
• Hubs should encourage their communities to register now.
• More information and updates will be shared regularly.

12. If I am not able to participate in a local hackathon with my hub can I/we still submit a project?

Yes. You must be enrolled formally in the hackathon before the “enrollment phase”. You must complete the enrollment phase, and may submit a final project. You will not be eligible for the first batch of ADA prizes but are eligible to be among the OVERALL top 5 winning prizes.