Blue-Cloud Hackathon 2025
Published on the 12th of May 2025. 4 min read.
Table of contents
What is the Blue-Cloud 2025 Hackathon?
Why join?
Who can join?
Who are the stakeholders?
What are the hackathon challenges?
5.1. Challenge 1 - Mapping & Understanding Marine Ecosystems and Species
5.2. Challenge 2 - Supporting Early Warning & Response to Accidents or Natural Events
5.3. Challenge 3 - Tracking & Forecasting Ocean Health
5.4. Challenge 4 - Wild Card: Double up with EDITO!
Hackathon timeline
How to participate
Prizes
Need more info?
1. What is the Blue-Cloud Hackathon 2025?
Join the Blue-Cloud Hackathon 2025: a collaborative sprint for scientists, researchers, and innovators to dive into the open science ecosystem organised by the Blue-Cloud 2026 project.
This is your opportunity to experiment with marine data, design smart workflows, and harness the platform’s Virtual Labs, Workbenches, and analytical tools to generate new insights.
Through hands-on engagement, you’ll explore the full potential of Blue-Cloud’s services, develop cutting-edge applications, and play a key role in shaping the platform’s next steps.
By addressing real-world user needs and surfacing areas for improvement, your contributions will help strengthen the Blue-Cloud ecosystem and propel collaborative, data-driven marine science forward.
2. Why join?
The benefits of joining the Blue-Cloud Hackathon 2025:
Boost your visibility among top organisations in marine science and ocean tech.
Get inspired by pioneers and professionals tackling ocean sustainability challenges.
Expand your network and collaborate across disciplines in a vibrant, cross-sector community.
Play a direct role in shaping the future of Blue-Cloud by testing and improving its services.
Compete for recognition — and open doors to potential follow-up support to advance your ideas.
3. Who can join?
No prior experience with Blue-Cloud needed — all curious minds are welcome!
We’re looking for:
Marine scientists, data specialists, modellers, and researchers
Providers of marine and environmental data services
SMEs and industry professionals in the Blue Economy
ICT experts and developers working on environmental tech
Students, early-career professionals, and citizen scientists passionate about marine innovation
Public agencies, NGOs, and changemakers advancing ocean sustainability
4. Who are the stakeholders?
The hackathon is co-organized by the Blue-Cloud 2026 project and is funded by the European Union.
Blue-Cloud 2026 & Hackathon partners
Blue-Cloud 2026 project is powered by open marine data & resources from
5. What are the hackathon challenges?
The hackathon invites participants to form teams and take on specific challenges related to pressing ocean issues.
There are the challenge to choose from:
5.1. Challenge 1 - Mapping & Understanding Marine Ecosystems and Species
How might we use collaborative science to advance the knowledge of marine ecosystems and species?
Marine ecosystems and their diverse species play a vital role in our lives. They regulate the Earth’s climate and are a primary source of food for billions of people. They support numerous economic activities and provide livelihoods for coastal communities around the world.
However, from plankton — the fabric of the ocean — to fisheries, our knowledge of species and ecosystems remains difficult to analyze with integrative approaches.
With your help, we can hack available data to address important knowledge gaps.
5.2. Challenge 2 - Supporting Early Warning & Response to Accidents or Natural Events
How might we use collaborative science to advance our ability to predict risks from natural events, or to ensure a swift response to accidents at sea?
Global change is affecting the way that species feed, move, and inhabit the marine realm.
Species migrations can have an impact on human livelihoods that rely on fisheries as a source of protein for human consumption. In addition, activities at sea carry risks to human life and wildlife.
With your help, we can evolve early warning mechanisms to anticipate a more effective response to global change.
5.3. Challenge 3 - Tracking & Forecasting Ocean Health
How might we use environmental indicators to understand complex phenomena affecting marine ecosystems and detect changes in their status with sufficient time to respond?
Climate change is causing severe impacts on marine ecosystems.
However, these changes are often difficult to anticipate, leading to delays in the implementation of actions that could mitigate risks and help us adapt to new conditions.
With your help, we can track and anticipate changes in the health of marine ecosystems to anticipate a more effective response.
5.4. Challenge 4 - Wild Card: Double up with EDITO!
How might we leverage the European Digital Twin Ocean platform to address Ocean challenges?
EDITO is the public backbone infrastructure of the European Digital Twin Ocean.
This wildcard invites you to address any Ocean challenge of your choice, harnessing the resources available in the EDITO platform in combination with resources offered by Blue-Cloud.
6. Hackathon timeline
Registrations and team formation open in May 2025, leading up to a warm-up ideation session in September.
Teams must finalize their ideas by September 25, just in time for the hackathon kickoff on September 29.
All key deliverables — project summaries, presentations, and any supporting material — are due by October 1, along with a short video pitch.
Judging begins right after, with final pitches and the winners announced on March 27.
🟢 Registrations and team formation open - May 2025
🎙️Virtual warm-up starts! - 16 September @ 15:00
👏Virtual warm-up ends! - 25 September @ 15:00
❌ Registration and team formation close and💡Idea description submission - 26 September @ 12:00
🌊Hackathon starts - 29 September @ 10:00
📃 Deliverable 1 // Project Summary - 29 September @ 16:00
🗃️ Deliverable 2 // Presentation - 30 September @ 14:00
🔗Deliverable 3 ️[OPTIONAL] // Supporting evidence link - 30 September @ 18:00
🔖Deliverable 4 ️[OPTIONAL] - 1 October @ 11:00
📽️ Deliverable 5 // Video Pitch - 1 October @ 13:00
👩⚖️ Evaluation process starts - 1 October @ 13:01
🎉 Pitching and winners announcement! - 2 October @ 15:00
7. How to participate
1) Register now!
Click on the “Register” and join the event on Eventornado!
2) Team up
Create your team or join others based on shared interests and skills!
3) Train
Explore the Blue-Cloud services, the Virtual Labs, and all the available resources
4) Compete in one of the challenges
Develop innovative solutions tailored to the 4 hackathon challenges.
5) Pitch your idea!
Winners will pitch their ideas at the Blue-Cloud 2026 Final Conference & gain exclusive access to the EDITO platform.
⏺️ Register
🫂 Team up
🪼 Hack!
⏺️ Register 🫂 Team up 🪼 Hack!
8. Prizes
Winners will pitch their ideas at the Blue-Cloud 2026 Final Conference & gain exclusive access to the EDITO platform.
The top 3 teams will receive up to €25,000 in total financial support to further develop and promote their solutions, with guidance from the Blue-Cloud project 2026.
Travel expenses covered for the winners to participate in the Final Conference.
Winners will gain exclusive access to the EDITO platform!
9. Need more info?
Visit the event website or drop us an email at hello@pristineagency.eu
