Part of

🚀 Tech for Good Hackathon 2026

Rangatahi across Aotearoa pick a real-world social or environmental challenge they care about, work through design thinking to shape their idea, build a working solution with Kiro (AWS's spec-driven AI IDE), and pitch it to a panel of judges — all in a single school day.

This year we're expanding from Auckland to Hamilton and Wellington, with a focus on upskilling students in AI, "vibe coding", and the responsible use of trustworthy AI tools.

Built with Kiro

📅 Event Dates & Cities

Key Dates

Each city runs for one day, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm, during school hours.

City	Date	Day	Time
Wellington	18 May 2026	Monday	9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Hamilton	19 May 2026	Tuesday	9:30 am – 2:30 pm
Auckland	22 May 2026	Friday	9:30 am – 2:30 pm

🌱 What Teams Build

Teams pick a real-world problem they care about — and ship a working tech solution by the end of the day. Recurring themes include:

• 🌊 Ocean and water pollution — beach and waterway reporting tools
• 💛 Youth wellbeing — apps that support mental health and connection
• 🍲 Community food sharing — reducing food waste and food insecurity
• 🦎 Native species conservation — protecting Aotearoa's taonga
• ♻️ School sustainability — waste audits, energy tracking, climate action

Browse the Prompt Library for ready-to-use ideas and starter prompts for each theme.

🏆 What's at Stake

The winning school in each region receives a prize contribution towards new tech equipment, jointly funded by Deloitte, AWS, and the Hynds Foundation. Catering and the day's running costs are also covered by the partners.

🧭 Responsible & Trustworthy AI

Kiro is a powerful AI tool, and this event is as much about how students use AI as what they build with it. We ask every team to be honest about their AI use in their pitch, verify what the AI produces before relying on it, keep personal information out of prompts, and stop and ask a mentor if anything feels off.

Students — head to the Trustworthy AI guide on the Hackathon Day page before you start prompting. Mentors and judges, same link if you want the short version.

🤝 Partners

This event is made possible by:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Kiro, technical expertise, and on-the-day student mentors
• Deloitte — programme delivery, design-thinking facilitation, and on-the-day mentors
• Hynds Foundation — Funding and Programme Delivery Partner

👥 Who Are You?

Pick the guide that fits your role:

🎓

I'm a Student

You're here to build something awesome. No coding experience needed — Kiro does the heavy lifting.

Get Started →

🧑‍🏫

I'm a Mentor / Facilitator

You're the guide on the side. Get the playbook for supporting student teams through the build phase.

Mentor Guide →

💻

I'm School IT

You need devices ready before the day. Here's the checklist to get Kiro and dependencies installed.

Setup Guide →

⚖️

I'm a Judge

You're here to support these teams with warm, constructive feedback. Get the judging criteria and how-to guide.

Judging Guide →

📬 Questions?

Reach out to the regional point of contact for your city. Schools, students, mentors, IT, and judges — all welcome to use these for setup issues, event queries, or anything that comes up on the day.

Regional Points of Contact

• Auckland & Hamilton — Fathin Doray — [email protected]
• Wellington — Shane Kelly — [email protected]