Urban Resilience: Future-Proofing Cities Through IoT & Innovation

packetHACKS 2025 challenges are related to building resilience, which can mean strengthening infrastructure, improving disaster preparedness, or developing innovative technologies to aid recovery. Participants should leverage on IoT and future technologies to develop innovative solutions addressing the given challenges

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The Challenges

DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY

This challenge aims to develop tools and technologies to improve disaster preparedness, emergency response and facilitate recovery efforts. The goal is to increase resilience and minimize the impact of natural and man-made disasters.

SUSTAINABILITY

This track focuses on using IoT to promote environmentally friendly practices and resource efficiency. The aim is to contribute to a sustainable future by reducing environmental impact and promoting responsible resource consumption.

Climate Resiliency

This challenge aims to address issues like sea-level rise, wildfires, earthquakes and other climate-related disasters.

PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT

This challenge aims dvelop solutions to address plastic waste and enhance community resilience.

Hackathon Phases

Phase 1
Phase 1

Registration

Form your team composing of 3 to 5 members and discuss that what challenge you would like to solve.

Phase 2
Phase 2

PRE-HACK

Orientation of all participants. Here we will discuss the mechanics and project submission and the entire hackathon journey.

Phase 3
Phase 3

IDEATION & SUBMISSION

Participants are required to submit a 5-minute project video pitch. (No actual project yet - just an idea and proposed solutions).

The chosen teams will move forward to the next phase.

Phase 4
Phase 4

BOOTCAMP with DEVICES

Equipping the participants with knowledge and strategy to build IoT devices and solutions from ideation to fabrication.

The chosen teams will move forward to the next phase.

Phase 5
Phase 5

Project Development

After the selection of semi-finalists, the team will have to build a working prototype of their proposed solution. Packetduino will be provided to all the teams who made it to the semi-final round. Mentoring session will be done in between.

Phase 6
Phase 6

Semi-final Round

The semi-finalist teams will be showcasing their project at the World of Consumer Electronics Expo. The Live Pitching will be on August 2, 2025 at the SMX Convention Center.

Phase 7
Phase 7

MVP Stage

The selected team advancing to the Final Round should continue refining and enhancing their project, making the necessary adjustments to bring it close to its beta stage..

Phase 8
Phase 8

Final Round

The top 6 semi-finalists will present and showcase their project at the IoTCon2025 on September 11 to 12, 2025 athe SMX Convention Center.

Mechanics

Who Can Join

Open to college students, young professionals, freelancers, startups, innovators, and tech enthusiasts. Form a team of 3–5 members and register under a team name. Ideally, teams should have:

  • A coder

  • A designer/presenter

  • A pitch expert (optional but advantageous)

Team Requirements & Project Submission

  • Submit a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with proper documentation.

  • Disclose all APIs, DLLs, and web services used.

  • Use of paid tools/licenses must be covered by the team.

  • All projects must be uploaded to a code repository (GitHub, Bitbucket, etc.). Private repos must grant access to the tech team.

  • Code will be reviewed for originality, readability, and quality. Plagiarism may lead to disqualification.

Pitching & Ownership

  • Teams will have 5 minutes to pitch and demo, plus 5 minutes of Q&A during both preliminary and final rounds.

  • All participants must sign a waiver upon confirmation.

  • All intellectual property remains with the team.

  • Technologies may include IoT devices, mobile/web apps, cloud platforms, sensors, data tools, and communication protocols like LoRaWAN.