Weather and climate data are no longer just numbers on a dashboard. They can help us understand how our environment is changing, anticipate risks, improve decisions, protect communities, and build more resilient systems.

But data only creates impact when people can turn it into insight, action and solutions.

Hack The Weather 2026 is a student-focused innovation hackathon organized by JHUB Africa at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), challenging young innovators to transform real-world environmental and weather data into practical technology solutions.

Under the theme “From Data to Impact,” participants will work with data from the Conduit@Empathy climate intelligence initiative at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT), exploring how environmental observations, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, data science and software development can be combined to address real-world climate and environmental challenges.

This is not simply a hackathon about building another weather application.

It is a challenge to ask:

What can we build when we turn environmental data into intelligence that people can actually use?

Climate change is creating increasingly complex challenges for communities, agriculture, water resources, infrastructure and ecosystems.

Kenya experiences climate-related challenges including prolonged droughts, flooding, changing rainfall patterns, environmental degradation and pressure on water resources. These challenges are interconnected: changes in rainfall affect water availability; water availability affects agriculture; changes in soil moisture and vegetation affect ecosystems; and extreme weather can affect infrastructure and communities.

At the same time, large amounts of environmental data are being generated through sensors, satellites and other digital technologies.

The challenge is turning this data into useful intelligence and actionable solutions.

Participants are therefore invited to explore innovative ways of using weather and environmental data to:

• Understand environmental conditions and trends

• Detect and respond to climate-related risks

• Support farmers and agricultural decision-making

• Improve water-resource management

• Monitor environmental change

• Build early-warning and alert systems

• Improve community resilience

• Visualize complex environmental information

• Support better planning and decision-making

• Create new products and services around climate intelligence

Your solution can address one of these areas or identify an entirely different problem that can be solved using environmental data.

At the heart of this hackathon is the Conduit@Empathy, a climate intelligence and environmental technology initiative at Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology (JKUAT) main campus, developed through collaboration between JHUB Africa and SPACE-SI, the Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies in Slovenia.

The Conduit brings together science, technology, environmental sensing, digital modelling, education and innovation to help people better understand and respond to changes in the environment.

The initiative forms part of a broader effort to integrate advanced satellite and digital technologies to improve understanding and management of water resources, environmental conditions and climate resilience in Kenya.

The Conduit is equipped with environmental sensors capable of monitoring parameters such as:

• 🌡️ Temperature

• 🌧️ Rainfall

• ☀️ UV radiation

• 💧 Soil moisture

• 🌱 Vegetation conditions

• 💦 Water quantity indicators

• 🧪 Water-quality indicators

These measurements can contribute to the calibration and validation of satellite observations and digital models of river-basin ecosystems. The broader vision is to better understand the relationships between water, soil, vegetation and infrastructure as environmental conditions change.

This creates an exciting opportunity for developers, data scientists and innovators to work with environmental data that has a connection to the physical world.

Conduit Data Platform:
https://conduit.jhubafrica.com/

Participants are encouraged to explore the available data before and during the hackathon and think beyond simple visualization.

The question is not only:

“What does the data say?”

It is:

“What can we do with what the data tells us?”

One of the exciting aspects of the Conduit initiative is its connection to a broader ecosystem of satellite observations, environmental sensing and digital models.

The long-term vision is to combine observations from different sources to better understand environmental systems.

This means participants can think creatively about combining:

Ground Data + Satellite Data + Historical Data + AI + Human Knowledge

to create new forms of environmental intelligence.

The goal is to demonstrate how different sources of information can become more valuable when brought together.

Hack The Weather is designed for students and young innovators who want to apply technology to real-world problems.

You do not have to be a climate scientist.

We welcome participants with backgrounds in:

• Software Engineering

• Computer Science

• Data Science

• Artificial Intelligence

• Information Technology

• Geospatial Science

• Environmental Science

• Agriculture

• Engineering

• Design

• Business

• Research

• Other relevant disciplines

A strong team may combine different skills.

For example:

Developer + Data Scientist + Domain Expert + Designer + Product Thinker

You don't need to know everything.

Build together. Learn together. Solve together.

Technology is only valuable when it solves a problem for someone.

As you build, ask:

Who will use this?

What decision will it help them make?

What action will it enable?

What happens if they don't have it?

The strongest solutions will connect technical innovation with a clear human, environmental or economic outcome.

The Conduit itself represents this philosophy: connecting people, science, education, technology and art in support of environmental understanding and local communities.

Hack The Weather is more than a two day coding challenge.

It is part of a broader effort to create opportunities for young African innovators to work with emerging technologies and solve challenges that matter locally.

JKUAT's Conduit provides a unique environment where local environmental observations, satellite technologies, digital modelling and innovation can come together.

JHUB Africa's role is to help bridge the gap between research, technology and entrepreneurship creating pathways for promising ideas to move from experimentation toward real-world applications.

The ambition is simple:

Start with data.
Build with technology.
Solve a real problem.
Create measurable impact.

Projects will be evaluated on more than whether they look good.

We want to understand whether the solution is useful, technically credible and capable of becoming something bigger.

How original is your approach?

Does the solution demonstrate creative use of environmental data and technology?

Does the project address a meaningful real-world challenge?

Who benefits from the solution?

Does the prototype work?

How effectively does the team use data, technology and engineering principles?

Could the solution be developed beyond the hackathon?

Does it have potential for adoption, further research, commercialization or wider deployment?

Can your team clearly demonstrate the journey from:

Data → Insight → Action → Impact?

Don't just visualize the weather.

Understand it.

Don't just analyze the data.

Turn it into intelligence.

Don't just build a prototype.

Build something that matters.

Explore the data. Form your team. Build your solution. Change what is possible.

🌐 Conduit Data Platform:
https://conduit.jhubafrica.com/

🌍 SPACE-SI & Conduit initiative:
https://www.space.si/2025/satelitske-in-digitalne-tehnologije-v-podporo-upravljanju-porecij-v-keniji/

🏫 JKUAT Climate Intelligence Hub:
https://www.jkuat.ac.ke/slovenia-president-inaugurates-climate-hub-at-jkuat/

🚀 JHUB Africa:
https://jhubafrica.com/

• Problem & Relevance (20%)
  Judges will assess: Clarity of the problem. Relevance of the problem. Understanding of the target users or beneficiaries. Evidence that the problem is worth solving.
• Innovation & Creativity (20%)
  Judges will assess: Originality of the solution. Creativity of the approach. Innovative use of technology and data.
• Technical Implementation & Use of Conduit Data (25%)
  Judges will assess: Functionality of the prototype. Quality of the technical implementation. Meaningful use of Conduit data. Appropriate use of additional data and technologies. The team's understanding of its implementation.
• Scalability & Future Potential (20%)
  Judges will assess: Potential for further development. Feasibility of deployment. Potential for adoption, research, entrepreneurship or commercialization.
• Climate, Environmental & Social Impact (15%)
  Judges will assess: Potential contribution to climate or environmental action. Number and type of potential beneficiaries. Strength of the proposed impact. Ability of the solution to translate information into useful action.