AI4BetterBLR Hackathon | BCS - Bengaluru Climate Summit 2026

Campaign Mission

Objectives of #AI4BetterBLR

Bengaluru is at a critical environmental crossroads. #AI4BetterBLR is a citizen-first movement designed to deploy smart technology, spatial mapping, and open civic collaboration to construct solutions for the city's urgent sustainability and urban challenges.

Citizen-First Data Collection

Crowdsourcing hyper-local spatial data (from footpaths to garbage hotspots) by mobilizing residents to actively report and map their neighborhoods.

AI & Civic Intelligence

Building smart assistants, dashboards, and automated vision algorithms to classify and route civic issues directly to administrators.

Ward-Level Direct Action

Bridging the citizen-government gap by providing ward committees and local civic groups with clean, actionable data to resolve issues.

Field Mobilization

🚶 Walkathon & Climate Huddle

On Saturday, 23 May 2026, we walked the streets of Bengaluru—from CMRIT College Campus up to the Graphite India Junction and back—to gather real-time spatial indicators on sidewalk blockages, pedestrian quality, and illegal dumping vulnerable spots. This data laid the foundation for the AI buildathon.

Explore Walkathon Data

48-Hour Challenge

💻 Vibeathon AI Buildathon

During the 30-31 May 2026 buildathon, developers, urban designers, and community advocates gathered at the CMRIT Innovation Hub and virtually. The mission: build bots, web apps, and companion dashboards utilizing spatial data to strengthen citizen-government coordination.

Walkable Bengaluru

Mapping pedestrian sidewalk blockages and pedestrian infrastructure safety indicators.

Garbage Free Bengaluru

Developing route optimizations, image classifiers, and warning systems for waste dumping hotspots.

ClimateMitra Companions

Creating chatbots and local dashboards that simplify citizen reporting and Ward Committee audits.

Vibeathon Challenge FAQs

A hybrid (online-first) 48‑hour event where teams build Bots and companion systems that strengthen citizen–government connections at the ward level using community and public data.

The Vibeathon took place on May 30–31, 2026. Showcase & awards were featured during the main Bengaluru Climate Summit on June 4–5, 2026.

It is online-first. Online participation supports distributed teams. Registered participants who wish to collaborate in person are welcome to visit the BCS HQ - CMRIT Campus.

The top teams demoed their live solutions on the main stage of the Bengaluru Climate Summit on June 4–5, 2026.

Anyone with relevant skills (coding, design, policy, data science) and civic interest. Teams must have at least 3 members and include at least one community organizer.

Yes — individual registrants are matched into optimal teams by organizers.

Teams can use Walkathon data (Ward 83), their own collected datasets, and public datasets. You can also build your own collection/annotation pipelines.

Yes! A complete Bot Starter Kit, sample dataset schemas, and field annotation guides are accessible via the repository.

Teams must submit:

🎥 Demo Video: Maximum 3 minutes (MP4 format).
💻 Code Repository: Public GitHub link.
📄 README: A 1-page document explaining the architecture and deployment.

Teams retain 100% ownership of their custom IP. We encourage applying open-source-friendly licenses (MIT or Apache 2.0) to shared deliverables.

Hackathon Awards

🏆 AI4BetterBLR Showcase Winners

Introducing the outstanding AI-powered solutions recognized by the Bengaluru Climate Summit panel for civic feasibility and technical excellence.

Outstanding Eco-Agent

Team Avinash / Keerthi

VANAM

Your Everyday Climate Companion

An AI-powered eco agent designed to help users find localized vendors for used items and discover green, eco-friendly alternatives. It transforms everyday tasks like donating clothes, recycling electronics, and composting into simple, rewarding, and low-cost green habits, acting as a personal sustainability guide directly in your pocket.

Visit Vanam

Top Civic Innovation

Team Nikhil

Clime

Bangalore's Smart Climate Companion

A unified civic climate dashboard built explicitly for Bengaluru. It features real-time AQI tracking, weather forecasts, traffic maps, and an interactive carbon footprint calculator. It also enables citizens to file instant garbage dumpsite reports, interact with a live urban climate digital twin, and access emergency services, providing an all-in-one green city helper.

Launch Clime

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