The CASSINI Hackathon, a project created at the initiative of the European Commission to support entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs in the space industry, will focus this year on innovative solutions for humanitarian aid in three areas: sustainable infrastructure development, strengthening food security and access to safe drinking water, and understanding and forecasting forced migration.

The event will take place over the weekend 3-5 November in Cluj-Napoca.

Registrations for the 6th CASSINI hackathon can be made until 26 October at this link https://www.cassini.eu/romania.

CASSINI Hackathons are a major opportunity to develop ideas for a digital application building on space data, including satellite images and positioning services. This year hackathon is for those interested in space technologies, international development and humanitarian activities.

During the event, participants will get access to EU space data and signals to create solutions focused on three topics:

  • Sustainable infrastructure development - participants can create solutions to support the development of renewable energy, transport and mobility or connectivity infrastructure;
  • Food security of access to drinking water - participants can explore how space technologies can be better prepared for humanitarian crises and manage precious resources more efficiently;
  • Understanding and forecasting forced migration - participants can propose solutions to manage logistics, resources and transport in difficult times and help authorities predict population movements in vulnerable areas.

"This edition of the CASSINI hackathon stands out for the opportunity to harness the potential of EU space data and intelligence in addressing global challenges. The EU space programme and its flagship projects Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS provide a wealth of data that can be used for international development and humanitarian aid, supporting tasks such as developing infrastructure, enhancing food security, ensuring access to clean water and planning humanitarian efforts. In a world where the profound consequences of climate change and global conflicts are being felt in full force, the central theme of the sixth CASSINI hackathon is of paramount importance and we look forward to the next wave of solutions that will emerge from this hackathon”, says Stefan Schneider, Head of Space Entrepreneurship at EUSPA.

"We believe that the essence of technological developments is to help, to make our lives easier, whether we are talking about everyday life in the office, at home, and sometimes even where there are huge problems - in areas of conflict, natural disasters or medical problems. Technology must help doctors, NGO workers, security specialists, biologists, teachers. Technology needs to be more and more accessible and increasingly oriented towards solving the world's big problems”, said Tudor Pasc, ROTSA Incubation Director.

CASSINI is a European Commission initiative to support entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs in the space industry from 2021-2027. The initiative is open to all areas of the EU Space Programme, and covers both upstream (i.e. nanosats, launchers, etc. and downstream (i.e. products/services enabled by space data, etc.).

CASSINI includes a €1 billion EU seeds and growth fund, hackathons and mentoring, prizes, a business accelerator, partnering and matchmaking.

The CASSINI Hackathon is organised by the Romanian Tech Startups Association (ROTSA), a non-profit organisation that aims to promote, support and represent the interests of technology start-ups in Romania.