Council of Europe Democracy Hackathon

Benefits & funding

• Selected teams paid no participation fee.
• The organisers booked round-trip flight or train travel to Strasbourg and covered four nights of accommodation from 16 to 20 June 2026.
• Meals were provided at the Council of Europe venue during official hackathon hours. Local transport, meals outside official hours, visa fees, travel insurance, and personal or incidental costs were not covered.
• The grand winner received a €15,000 Council of Europe development grant and a $20,000 Microsoft Azure grant. Each of the other three finalists received a $10,000 Microsoft Azure grant, for $50,000 in Azure grants across the four finalists.
• Selected teams received online preparation, mentoring, and post-event implementation support.

Eligibility

• Teams had to contain 3 or 4 members, and every member had to reside in one of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, or the United Kingdom.
• Each team had to cover the roles of technologist or developer, democracy expert or policy advocate, and designer; a fourth member was optional.
• Applications and the final pitch had to be in English.
• The concept had to address a published challenge and show technical innovation, human-rights safeguards, usable design, feasibility, and potential impact.
• The published rules stated no nationality, age, degree, or work-experience requirement beyond the residence and team-composition rules.

Application process

1. 1
   Form a multidisciplinary team of 3 or 4 eligible residents.
2. 2
   Choose one of the four published challenges.
3. 3
   Prepare a concept summary of no more than two pages covering the problem and solution, technical approach, human-rights safeguards, user experience, impact, and implementation potential.
4. 4
   Submit the team registration and concept summary through the official website by the deadline.
5. 5
   If selected, join the online warm-up sessions and attend the in-person hackathon in Strasbourg.

Program timeline

1. Applications opened.

   11 May 2026

2. Concept-summary deadline.

   5 June 2026 at 12:00 CET

3. Selected teams were scheduled to be announced.

   7 June 2026

4. Online warm-up period.

   10–16 June 2026

5. Covered accommodation began.

   16 June 2026

6. Live hackathon at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg.

   17–19 June 2026

7. Covered accommodation ended.

   20 June 2026