Dates

The official hackathon dates are ▷ 28th April - 13th of May, 2023.◁ Use this link to signup for our in-person hacking event taking place on the 6th of May 2023. The signup deadline is Friday 5th of May 2023, 23:59 WAT.

Timeline for the hackathon:
  • Kick-off livestream: 28th April 2023 
  • Workshop livestream sessions: 28th - 30th April 2023
  • Hackathon Begins: 1st May 2023
  • Hackathon Ends: 7th May 2023, 2:00 PM WAT
  • Project submission deadline: 7th May 2023 2:00 PM WAT
  • Judging: 8th May 2023 - 12th May 2023
  • Winner livestream announcement: 13th May 2023

There will be oppourtunities for hackers located in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Kano and Kigali to hack together in-person on Saturday, 6th of May 2023 from 9am - 6pm. Signup using this link.

Venues for in-person hacking (only available on the 6th of May 2023 -- signup required):
  • Nithub Unilag: 6 Commercial Rd, University Of Lagos 101245, Lagos, Nigeria
  • University of Ibadan: Appleton Road, University of Ibadan (along Zoological Garden), Ibadan, Nigeria
  • EHealth4Everyone: Area 11, 8 Kukawa close, off Gimbiya St, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria
  • Startup Kano: Maiduguri Road, opposite Al-Yuma House, Tarauni, Kano State, Nigeira.
  • CMU Africa: Regional ICT Center of Excellence Bldg Plot No A8, Kigali Special Economic Zone Phase II, Rwanda
Schedule:
Date Topic Speaker Time (WAT) Platform Recordings
28-Apr Welcome keynote Tejumade Afonja (Co-founder, AI Saturdays Lagos)  and Luis Serrano (Developer Relations Lead, Cohere)  4:10 - 4:30pm Zoom: Link Youtube: Link
Introduction to Hackathon Challenge Jesujoba Alabi (PhD student, Saarland University) and Roy Lim Marketing Events Manager, Cohere) 4:30 - 5:00pm Youtube: Link
Large Language Models for Real-World Applications- A Gentle Intro Luis Serrano (Developer Relations Lead, Cohere)  5:00 - 6:00pm Youtube: Link
29-Apr MasakhaNEWS: News topic classification for African languages David Adelani (Research Fellow, University College London) 11:00-12:00pm Zoom: Link Youtube: Link
Introduction to semantic search with Cohere [Pre-recorded] Luis Serrano (Developer Relations Lead, Cohere) 12:00 - 12:30pm Youtube: Link
Introduction to Cohere’s Multilingual model [Pre-recorded] Nils Reimers (Director of Machine Learning, Cohere) 12:35 - 12:55pm Youtube: Link
30-Apr AfriSenti: Sentiment Analysis for African Languages Shamsudeen Hassan Muhammad (Co-founder, Arewa Data Science Academy) 4:00-5:00pm Zoom: Link  
  Build the next generation of apps [Pre-recorded] Kemi Tijani (Partnerships Strategy Lead, Cohere) 5:00-5:30pm   Youtube: Link
How to Add AI to your App [Pre-recorded] Nick Frosst (Co-founder, Cohere) 5:40-6:30pm Youtube: Link
Ask Me Anything Session Tejumade Afonja, Mubarak Daha Isa 6:30-7:00pm   
30 Apr - 6 May Hacking in progress - Tips and Tricks + teams check-in 7 days Discord: Link  
6-May Jumpstart your Cohere AI Knowledge George Igwegbe (Co-organizer AI Saturdays Lagos) 10:00-11:00am Zoom: Link  
  C4AI Open Science Research Project: Multilingual Instruction Tuning Sara Hooker (Lead, Cohere for AI Lab) 11:00-12:00pm    
Last day of hacking In-person event Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Kano, and Kigali 9:00-6:00pm Signup: Link  
7 May Submission deadline 2:00pm DevPost: Link  
8-12-May Judging + evaluation Discord and Devpost  
13-May Opening remark Tejumade Afonja 4:00 - 4:10pm Zoom: Link  
  Presentation from top-5 finalist   4:10 - 5:10pm    
Winner announcement Roy Lim 5:20 - 5: 30pm   
  Closing keynote Organizers 5:30 - 5:40pm    

Eligibility

Previous experience in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) is not required but welcomed. While many participants may be industry experts, we also welcome people with other types of domain knowledge that want to understand & explore how AI can be used in their fields.

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Criteria are scored from 1-10 and placements will be shared with all hackers for transparency along with feedack from the judges

  • Idea Quality
    • How creative, original or innovative is the idea proposed?
  • Implementation of Idea
    • How well was the idea implemented technologically?
    • Did the solution use Cohere's multilingual embedding?
    • Did the solution incomporates other Cohere's technology. This is not mandatory but is encouraged.
  • Potential Impact
    • Does the solution have real-world (social) impact and does it provide some sort of value to users?
  • Pitch
    • Did the pitch communicate why the team settled on the specific solution? Were the team able to articulate the value of their solution?
  • Popular Vote
    • Once you have submitted your project, you will be able to look at other people's project and vote for the project that you like. We will take this into consideration for the final evaluation.

Prizes

  • 1st place: USD$1000 + 3000 Cohere API credits
  • 2nd place: USD$800 + 2000 Cohere API credits
  • 3rd place: USD$500 + 1000 Cohere API credits
  • 4th place: USD$200 + 500 Cohere API credits
  • Honourable mentions (up to 2): 500 Cohere API credits

* prizes are split among team members

**1st place winner will get to meet with one of Cohere's founders and work with Cohere's team to build a demo package for social media feature.

Team Representation

  • Each team or organization that enters the Hackathon must appoint one individual (the "Representative") to represent, act, and enter a submission on its behalf. The Representative must meet the eligibility requirements above.
  • By entering a Submission on the Hackathon Website on behalf of a team, you represent and are authorized to act on behalf of your team or organization. Teams may be made up of a maximum of five eligible individuals.

Instructions for Hackers

  •  How to form a team
    • If you are forming your team virtually, head to our discord channel (you will receive the link upon registration for the hackathon) and post under #looking-for-a-team and coordinate with folks who are interested via direct messages (DMs). It is advised to share your experience, skillset, and interest.  You may also look for a team in Devpost. 
    • Once a team is formed, register your team's name in the registration form. The deadline for team formation is Thursday 4th of May 2023.
    • Attend workshops together and brainstorm an idea! You may want to consider timezone differences, everyone's domain knowledge and expertise when you are planing your schedules.
  • What to submit
    • Project name
    • Github repository and demo link
    • 3-5 minutes video walkthrough of your project
    • Presentation slides
  • Discord Channels: these are the channels that will facilitate you during the hackathon
    • #cohere-ai-hack
    • #resources
    • #looking-for-a-team
    • #looking-a-mentor