The Merseyside Hackathon 2026

The Merseyside Hackathon is a 48-hour hybrid innovation event bringing together students from multiple Higher Education institutions.

Agenda

DAY 1 – DISCOVERY & DEPLOYMENT - Monday, 11 May 2026

09:00 – Check in at James Parsons Foyer

10:00 – Kickoff: The challenge reveal

10:45 – Team formation: "The Merseyside Mix”

12:00 – Strategy session

13:00 – Build sprint 1 – Prototype development

16:30 – Sunset briefing

17:00 - Venue close - Teams continue building remotely with structured online support.

DAY 2 – REFINEMENT & RECOGNITION - Tuesday, 12 May 2026

09:00 – Stand-up session

09:30 – Build sprint 2 - final push

11:00 - Mini masterclass: “Pitching Technical Ideas Clearly”

13:00 – Code freeze

14:00 – Demo expo

16:00 – Deliberation and networking

16:30 – Awards ceremony

17:00 - Event close

Synopsis

The Merseyside Hackathon 2026 is a structured, two-day hybrid innovation sprint bringing together students from multiple Higher Education institutions across the region to collaborate on real-world civic and digital challenges.

The event is designed to simulate professional innovation environments, where multidisciplinary teams work under time constraints to prototype practical technology solutions.

Students will select one of two regionally relevant challenge tracks:

• Smart City & Sustainable Transport – focused on improving urban mobility, data-driven decision-making, and environmental sustainability through digital tools.
• Health, Wellbeing & Community Data – focused on improving the accessibility, interpretation, and ethical use of data relating to community services and public wellbeing.

Throughout the event, participants progress through structured phases including challenge briefing, team formation, guided build sprints, remote collaboration, mentorship checkpoints, technical validation, and final presentations.

The hybrid delivery model ensures both on-site engagement and supported remote build periods, reflecting contemporary industry working practices. The hackathon prioritises educational value, professional skill development, and responsible participation. It is not designed as an endurance competition; rather, it emphasises structured productivity, clarity of process, and collaborative problem-solving.

The hackathon is open to students from all disciplines, not just Computer Science or programming.

Judging will reward the most innovative and impactful idea, so students from Media, Design, Business, Health Informatics, Environmental Studies and other disciplines are equally welcomed.

Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.

This meeting is conducted in accordance with the BCS Code of Conduct for Meetings.

BCS is a membership organisation. If you enjoy this event, please consider joining BCS. You’ll be very welcome. You’ll receive access to many exclusive career development tools, an introduction to a thriving professional community and also help us Make IT Good For Society. Join BCS today.

Please familiarise yourself with the Visitor Instructions for the BCS London Office.

Please note, if you have any accessibility needs, please let us know via groups@bcs.uk and we’ll work with you to make suitable arrangements.

For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters.

This event is brought to you by: BCS Merseyside branch (Merseyside branch | BCS).

In partnership with Liverpool John Moores University and supported by ICS.AI.