AWS Breaking Barriers Challenge

The AWS Breaking Barriers Challenge is a three-day social impact innovation event hosted simultaneously across the UK & Ireland, combining a GenAI Hackathon with a Social Impact Summit. Through technical workshops, masterclasses, and networking opportunities, participants develop practical solutions for pressing social challenges using AWS technology, with a special focus on GenAI applications.

Making history as UKI's first multi-city GenAI hackathon, the AWS Breaking Barriers Challenge unites tech communities across the UK and Ireland. This unique three-day experience transforms traditional hackathons by combining cross-regional collaboration, hands-on AI development, and social innovation to create technology solutions that matter.

This event stands apart through its innovative multi-city simultaneous execution with real-time collaboration across London, Manchester, and Dublin. What truly sets it apart is our commitment to taking winning solutions from concept to reality through comprehensive AWS implementation support. The event goes beyond traditional hackathons by providing long-term technical guidance and featuring executive sponsorship from AWS and Amazon leadership. Our focus remains firmly on creating practical, deployable solutions that can make a real difference in the charitable sector.

We're seeking a diverse mix of professionals and students who can bring different perspectives and skills to this challenge. This includes software developers, engineers, data scientists, AI specialists, UX/UI designers, and project managers. We're also actively seeking charity sector professionals, business analysts, final-year university students, faculty members, and representatives from AWS customers and partners. This diversity ensures rich, multifaceted approaches to solving social challenges.

Participants will have comprehensive access to AWS's full suite of AI/ML services, including Amazon Bedrock, Q Developer, SageMaker, and Lambda, along with additional services based on project requirements. Technical support is robust and includes on-site AWS Solutions Architects at each location, and office hours with AWS experts from our partners. We also provide extensive technical documentation, tutorials, and pre-event training materials to ensure all participants can maximize their use of AWS technologies.

Each team consists of 8-10 carefully selected members to ensure a balanced mix of skills and perspectives. Teams typically include two to three technical experts from AWS partners, one or two charity representatives who bring deep understanding of social challenges, two to three industry professionals, one or two university participants, and dedicated AWS technical support staff. This structure ensures teams have the necessary technical expertise while maintaining strong connections to real-world social impact needs.

The event spans three intensive days:
Day One focuses on problem definition and solution design, starting with registration and a keynote, followed by charity partner sessions, AWS technical workshops and team formation.
Day Two concentrates on development and testing, featuring focused sprints with ongoing technical support from AWS Solution Architects, AI/ML experts and charity representatives.
Day Three emphasises refinement and presentation, beginning with solution polishing, followed by local and cross-city presentations, concluding with judging and an awards ceremony.

Solutions are evaluated through a comprehensive framework that considers technical innovation (25%), social impact potential (25%), feasibility and sustainability (20%), scalability (15%), and presentation quality (15%). The winning team will receive an extensive support package including AWS technical expertise, implementation assistance from AWS partners, marketing and PR support, and access to AWS's global charity network. Most importantly, AWS will provide dedicated resources and support to help transform the winning solution from prototype to production, ensuring it creates lasting impact in the real world. This is complemented by ongoing mentorship and technical guidance to ensure long-term success.