The winners of Innovative Solutions4Moldova Hackathon were announced. The event took place during 10-12 November 2023 in Chișinău and was organized by UNDP Moldova, with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Technovator, Orange, Premier Energy, and Waze.

For 36 hours, more than 40 participants divided in 10 teams – technology professionals, technical experts, enthusiasts – developed solutions to tackle pressing challenges in three key areas: road safety, agriculture, and energy.

Guided by mentors and using technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and geospatial data (satellite images), the participants worked, tested, and iterated their ideas of innovative solutions and built functional prototypes. 

The prototypes were evaluated by an independent jury made of representatives of public institutions and partner organizations, who selected the following solutions:  

• Energy: Power generation prediction solution (Wise Energy team);
• Agriculture: farmer's cabinet, where soil and crop datasets can be accessed and soil analysis services etc. can be ordered (Strawberry Vision team);
• Road safety: intelligent alerting system based on accident prediction algorithm and other road safety aspects (Road Heroes team).

"Our team chose the topic of energy, namely the prediction of electricity generation from renewable sources. I took part in the hackathon to see what others are doing, what I can do and what others can do, and by doing this to make a market study," said Tatiana Chiril, a participant from the Wise Energy team.

“I would like to congratulate all participants who put their minds and hearts together and came up with purposeful and people-centered e-solutions to tackle challenges in real life. I am impressed by such results, obtained under time pressure. We look forward, jointly with our partners, to bringing to life all solutions presented today contributing to better road safety, an accelerated energy transition and smarter agriculture,” said Daniela Gasparikova, UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova. 

The teams were awarded various prizes from Orange Moldova, Premier Energy, and gadgets worth about US$5,000 from UNDP Moldova and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 

The winning teams will also be guided and supported to further develop their solutions, which could be adopted by public institutions, entrepreneurs, and the general public.