It’s up to you! Whether you want to do it solo, or ask your entire crew to jump in, it doesn’t matter. There is only one submission allowed per person or team, so make sure you don’t submit the same project more than once when the hackathon ends. There should be one person assigned as the dedicated contact for the team.

We’re not looking for high production videos – just a proof of concept. Make sure your submissions are under 3 minutes long. It should give the judges a good overview of your project, the work you did during the hackathon, how it solves a problem with regards to communication in indigenous languages, and the tools or smart ideas you used to make it work. 

You can do this through a screen recording, product demo or just talk through your project with accompanying visuals. An app like Loom is a free and easy way to do this.

Yes! As long as you sign up before the last day of the hackathon, you will be able to submit your entry on the closing date.

No. To ensure all of the judges understand your project, please make sure to submit your video and project description in English. The content of the project itself can be in an indigenous language, and if there are specific words and concepts in indigenous languages that you want to make sure the judges understand, be sure to explain it.

As long as your project promotes communication in indigenous languages, there isn’t a specific guideline of how much of the indigenous language should be used on the project’s interface and content.

Your entry stays your own. We would like to encourage everyone who participates to continue developing their ideas after the hackathon ends.

Work that was started before the Indigenous Language Tech Challenge can be entered, as long as the progress that was made during the hackathon can be shown. We don’t want to see a copy and paste of previous work that you did. Use these two weeks to expand on your idea, and show us how you used this time to make it even better. There needs to be at least a 50% improvement or change during the hackathon that can be shown, subject to the judges’ discretion.

Yes! You will be able to pre-record a presentation to show at the Indigenous Language Imbizo on 19 November if you aren’t able to make it there in person.

We’re not looking for projects that are polished and ready to go live. As long as your proof of concept is developed, and the elements of your project are at a point to show how it will work – that’s good enough for us!

Join the Indigenous Language Tech Challenge Discord server using this link: https://discord.gg/uGReWAu3

Here you’ll be able to chat with your fellow participants, share and receive resources, and see important announcements.

Also make sure to keep an eye on your inbox for any important updates during the hackathon. 

We’ll also be keeping an eye on hello@pendoring.co.za during the course of the hackathon, if you would like to send us any questions on mail.

The judging panel will assess your project as a whole. Keep these things in mind when developing your idea:

• How does my project solve a problem, or create something new when it comes to promoting indigenous languages in South Africa?
• Did I come up with an unexpected or new way of thinking with regards to indigenous language use?
• Does my project bring something new to the tech space?
• What type of person will use my project in the real world? 
• Can the project be realistically implemented?
• Is the solution easy to use and accessible to its intended audience?

Only one project may be submitted per team or individual. Use this time to give it your all for one idea.