The annual hackathon HackTech’25, organised by AdTech Holding, was recently held to great success, with its focus this year an especially vital one: using technology to combat the wildfires that struck Cyprus this summer.
Over the 48-hour event, 25 teams came together to design and build technological solutions addressing wildfire prevention, detection, response, and recovery.
A shared mission for the island
Rather than offering multiple challenges, HackTech’25 concentrated on a single, urgent social issue — the devastation caused by wildfires. The decision was driven by a coalition of individuals and organisations, including representatives from the government and local tech community. Among them were Monica Polemitis (TKI), Ivan Sysoev and Tanya Romanyukha (TechIsland), Nicodemos Damianou (Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy), plus AdTech Holding.
“Speaking on behalf of AdTech and all our employees, the tragic events of this summer resonated strongly across the entire community. As one of Cyprus’s leading IT companies, we felt a responsibility not to stand aside. What we could do was bring people together: create a space where experts, innovators, and passionate individuals could collaborate and focus their talent on a challenge that impacts us all,” commented Alex Vasekin, CEO of AdTech Holding.
Collaboration, support, and resources
The success of HackTech’25 would not have been possible without strong backing from a broad network of partners. The event was funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU via the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan, in collaboration with the Deputy Ministry.
Key collaborators included tech-community groups such as TechIsland and i-Con, which provided support and even exclusive conference passes for participants.
Sponsorship was provided by Mayflower (platinum sponsor), The Nexxie Group (gold sponsor), and supporters including City Friends Club, Uptown Square Catering and the event venue The Warehouse by IT Quarter.
Reflecting on the speed of organisation, hackathon organiser Maria Yashina said, “This year, HackTech was organised in record time. What usually takes months had to be delivered in about two: from contracts and logistics to production, judges, and public-sector approvals. It came together because our partners and sponsors reacted fast … Thanks to them, HackTech became a shared effort with real value for Cyprus.”
From ideas to prototypes: What the teams delivered
Despite a relatively short promotional period, HackTech’25 saw a strong turnout: 25 teams were selected to participate after an evaluation process that filtered out duplicate or impractical proposals. The selection was carried out by a committee composed of government representatives and senior IT professionals.
Participants — including developers, designers, data scientists, product managers and more — spent two days coding, building hardware prototypes, and refining their solutions with guidance from mentors. The event also included whiteboard brainstorming sessions, late-night coding, and a high-pressure but rewarding final demo day.
At the end, teams presented a broad spectrum of inventive solutions: drone-based wildfire monitoring, solar-powered forest sensors, AI-backed prediction models, real-time alert systems for citizens, emergency-dispatch dashboards, and platforms for coordinating volunteer efforts and reforestation initiatives.
Winners and what comes next
With a total prize pool of €30,000, the top three teams were awarded:
- 1st Place: Nexxians, for an AI-driven “Cyprus Fire Digital Twin System” to help coordinate government and citizen wildfire response. This team was awarded €15,000.
- 2nd Place: Cold Reload — a community platform enabling volunteers, organisations and people in need to connect and coordinate support efficiently. This team was awarded €10,000.
- 3rd Place: DasoPhylax — creators of a system for continuous forest monitoring using a wireless camera plus an inference unit to provide constant alerts. This team was awarded €5,000.
Additionally, the People’s Choice Award went to Re:Earth, whose “EchoGuard” project transforms satellite forest-recovery data into audio-visual storytelling, offering an empathetic way for communities to track post-fire healing.
The prizes were awarded following an evaluation by a panel of experts made up of Alex Vasekin, CEO, AdTech Holding, Konstantinos Kleovoulou, Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy (Director of Research), Marios Tziapouras – Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy (Director of Cybersecurity), Charis Demetriou, CEO, The Nexxie Group, Andrei Bolshakov – Senior Product Manager at Mayflower, Christos Hadjigeorgiou – Operational officer at the Limassol fire department, and Riana Constantinou, Head of the Ambulance Service Directorate.
The organisers emphasised that this isn’t the end of the road: many of the project teams plan to continue development beyond the hackathon, with the hope of scaling their solutions into tools that will benefit Cyprus long-term. AdTech Holding has committed to supporting them through exposure, networking opportunities and media outreach.
