Hackathon for Good - Youth Edition 2025, 40 innovators aged 13–17 at The Hague Tech

On Friday, 7 November 2025, The Hague Tech buzzed with energy as forty-one bright young innovators, aged 13 to 17, gathered for the first-ever Youth Edition of Hackathon for Good for a day of creativity, coding and teamwork. They were guided by more than 15 amazing mentors and facilitators who supported the participants in teams to tackle real-world challenges using design thinking, prototyping and storytelling.

The mission of Hackathon for Good: Youth Edition was to build on the strong legacy of the event and expand its reach by introducing young people to AI, coding, and problem-solving—all while showcasing how technology can tackle real-world challenges. Teams worked in a sprint-based format to develop their ideas. Some even built full chatbots and other prototypes in just a few hours. In the end, participants presented their pitches to an expert jury made up of professionals from KPN, Randstad, PostNL, and IT Campus, who praised the creativity and impact of their concepts. The diversity of knowledge and experience proved to be a true source of inspiration, for both the young participants and their mentors.

Let’s talk about the challenges that were presented at the hackathon. EduvolutionX – Smart Bike Safety was brought by Muhammet Bilgic and tasked the students to design systems that help cyclists detect traffic dangers using light, sound or vibration. Digital Child Rights Foundation – Online Safety, led by Peter Joziasse, invited participants to use AI to help young people navigate online threats such as bullying, misinformation and stress. This was a particularly relevant topic for the participants.

The winning teams were Stroopsafety and The Bike Buzzer, recognized for their respective challenges. Stroopsafety, competing in the Digital Child Rights Foundation challenge, created a playful yet practical tool that helps young people verify whether online content is real or AI-generated. The project stood out for its clear design, technical insight, and strong focus on privacy, impressing both the jury and fellow participants. The Bike Buzzer won the EduvolutionX challenge with a smart bicycle safety system that uses sensors and vibrations to warn cyclists of nearby hazards. The jury applauded its creativity, sustainability, and real-world relevance.

In parallel to all the fun and creative sessions, the event also featured a tech market, where visitors explored demos from EduvolutionX, Bijlex and From Waste to Wonder while enjoying lunch and live robotics displays. Deloitte participated in the programme by providing a workshop on building bots, giving participants hands-on experience with robotics, and even some time to play ball with the robots while having pizza for lunch.

The Youth Edition was organised by Hackathon for Good at The Hague Tech with support from Municipality of The Hague, and the Programma aansluiting onderwijs arbeidsmarkt bedrijfsleven. Partners included EduvolutionX, Digital Child Rights Foundation, Deloitte, KPN, PostNL, Randstad and IT Campus. Participating schools were the American School of The Hague, ROC Mondriaan and Maris College Belgisch Park.

For more information or to join future editions as a partner, mentor or challenge owner, contact info@hackathonforgood.org or visit The Hague Tech's program page here.