The 5th CASSINI Hackathon organised by the NGO, C.I.P Citizens In Power in Cyprus and held under  the auspices of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO), was completed last weekend on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at the Information Centre and Training for Employment and  Entrepreneurship (KEEAED), Municipality of Nicosia. 

This 5th edition of the CASSINI Hackathon focuses mainly on SPACE: Defence & Security and it was  held in 10 different locations across Europe. Countries participating were: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,  France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Sweden.  

Agenda of the local event in Cyprus here. 

The opening ceremony was hosted on Friday, March 24. 

At the conclusion of the two-day Hackathon in Cyprus, a financial award and mentoring prizes worth  over € 1000 were given to the first 3 teams who achieved the highest ranking on their Local Pitch.  

Cyprus winning team, “Hiris Guider” was selected to pitch to the final Demo Day, on Thursday, March  30 in front of a jury panel representing the European Commission, the European Union Agency for the  Space Programme (EUSPA) and other related industries.

Watch their video HERE.  

Hiris Guider won the 1st prize in the final with the support of the organising team, Citizens In Power  (CIP), Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO), the mentoring group from CAIUS.GR and CSEO,  and of course with the valuable and insightful advice from the jury members Dr Kyriacos Pavlou, Dr  Panayiotes Philimis, Mr George A Danos and Mr Panis Pieri. 

Τhe CASSINI Hackathon & Mentoring is the first action in the implementation of CASSINI, the  European Commission’s new initiative to support innovative entrepreneurs, start-ups, and SMEs in  the space industry, including New Space, during 2021-2027. The CASSINI Hackathons are a series of  semi-annual hackathons that tackle global challenges with European space technologies. Each  hackathon is a hybrid event that takes place in 10 different locations across Europe simultaneously.  The purpose to bring together young entrepreneurs, technologists and researchers from around  Europe, and to provide an attractive environment to develop innovative applications and learn about  the European space programmes.  

Participants were supported with training resources and dedicated sessions on how to access these  data and services, and with training to publicly showcase their solutions. The three winners of each  hackathon received access to CASSINI Mentoring, a tailor-made mentoring and coaching scheme.  Verhaert Masters In Innovation and SpaceTec Partners form the core team implementing the CASSINI  Hackathons & Mentoring action on behalf the European Commission and the European Union  Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). 
The team of C.I.P Citizens In Power has been selected to implement this coming Hackathon in Cyprus.  This creates opportunities for our ecosystem and young entrepreneurs to enter and connect to a  broader community, access Networks that enhance their expertise, and reinforce their knowledge. 

The event was co-organised with the Nicosia Multifunctional Centre in the context of the project,  Information and Training Centre for Employment and Business Action, which is co-funded by the  European Development Fund of the EU, the Government and the Municipality of Nicosia and under  the auspices of Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO).