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Breaking Barriers
Creating inclusive, accessible, and equitable digital experiences for all.
About our hackathons
Breaking Barriers is our flagship hackathon series that brings together developers, innovators, and technology leaders to co-create cutting-edge solutions using AWS technologies. These intensive, hands-on events typically span 3 days and are hosted in cities close to our developer communities, creating accessible opportunities for builders of all skill levels to gain practical cloud experience. We've engaged over 3,000+ developers across 100 countries and awarded more than $50,000 in prizes, fostering a global community of innovation. Each hackathon features gamified challenges, industry keynotes, and ample opportunities for with mentorship from AWS experts, industry partners, and technology leaders throughout the event.
Upcoming hackathons
[Coming Soon] 2026 Breaking Barriers Challenge
January 13 – 15, 2026
Multi-city (London, Manchester, Dublin)
AWS Breaking Barriers Challenge 2026 is a three-day innovation sprint (January 13-15, 2026) hosted across Dublin, London, and Manchester, where technical experts collaborate with UK and Irish charities to develop cloud-based AI/ML solutions addressing critical challenges in healthcare innovation, sustainability, and community empowerment, transforming how charitable organizations serve their communities despite facing funding instability, resource constraints, and outreach challenges.
Our past hackathons
2025 Inaugural Hackathon
September 20 - 23, 2024
AT&T Innovation Studio
2900 W Plano Pkwy, Plano, Dallas TX
AWS for Telecom in collaboration with partners TM Forum, AT&T, NVIDIA and Anthropic hosted a hackathon challenging innovators to harness generative AI's transformative capabilities and develop solutions that enable accessible, inclusive, and equitable digital experiences for all.
Featured Winner: Learn AI
2025 Virtual Challenge
April 21 – June 23, 2025
Virtual
AWS for Telecom in collaboration with partners AT&T, Rogers, Deutsche Telekom, Safaricom, Fastweb, Tech Mahindra, NVIDIA and Anthropic hosted a hackathon challenging developers to build innovative applications that combine AWS generative AI services with next-generation connectivity solutions (like 5G, IoT, or edge computing) to solve pressing challenges in healthcare, education, sustainability, and the arts.
Featured Winners
- 1st Prize: LLMIX
- 2nd Prize: Buzzle
- 3rd Prize: Infinite Memory
Breaking Barriers: Public Safety & Network Intelligence Innovation
September 19 - 21, 2025
SMU University Campus
AWS in collaboration with AT&T and Deloitte hosted a hackathon challenging developers to build innovative applications that combine AWS generative AI services (LLMs, Digital Twins, and Intelligent Agents) with FirstNet's dedicated public safety network to solve pressing challenges in network intelligence optimization and community safety & health innovation.
Featured Winners
- 1st Prize: Echo911
Breaking Barriers for Agentic Networks
October 31 - November 2, 2025
Dogpatch Labs, Dublin, Ireland
AWS in collaboration with the Telecom Infra Project hosted a three-day hackathon (October 31 - November 2, 2025) in Dublin, Ireland, challenging developers to build innovative agentic AI-powered network solutions using AWS generative AI services like Amazon Bedrock AgentCore and Strands Agents to address challenges in network intelligence, automation, integration, and RAN technologies.
Featured Winners
- 1st Prize (Virtual): Open RAN Energy optimization (OREO)
- 1st Prize (In-person): ADAPT (Autonomous Networking Healing)
Why participate in Breaking Barriers?
Propose innovative ideas that transcend technological barriers and address social inequalities, positively transforming lives through equitable digital experiences.
Collaborate with industry leaders to develop solutions for digital equity using cutting-edge generative AI technology.
Identify frameworks and best practices for large-scale adoption of generative AI, addressing challenges like security, sustainability, and cost.
Top innovators forging digital equity with generative AI technology will be recognized and rewarded with cash prizes
Stay informed
Sign up to be among the first to learn more about our upcoming Breaking Barriers hackathon in a city near you
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