Join NVIDIA, Open Hackathons, and Oracle for Open Models Codefest. It starts with a workshop on July 30, and continues with a hackathon from September 9 to October 7.
Codefest focuses on building and adapting open models and agentic AI applications tailored to local public sector needs, applying NVIDIA's best practices and guidance across data curation, model training, and model evaluation.
Participating teams will receive GPU access, hands-on mentorship from NVIDIA's expert network, and support to build impactful, scalable AI solutions grounded in regional data, models, and innovation. Top teams may be invited to showcase their work at NVIDIA GTC Berlin, 20–22 October.
The deadline to submit your application is July 26, 2026. A maximum of 15 teams will be selected.
Open Models Codefest: Workshop and Hackathon
Agenda and Information
Codefest Workshop
July 30
AI infrastructure overview
Model builders and agentic workflow with NVIDIA Nemotron™
Bootcamp playbook and demo
Codefest Hackathon
Day 1: September 9
Hackathon overview
Mentor introductions
Cluster walkthrough (breakout room)
AI tools overview
1:1 team-mentor working session in breakout rooms
Codefest Hackathon
Days 2-4: September 16, 23, 30
Teams present for 4 minutes each
Teams present for 4 minutes each
With access to mentor
Codefest Hackathon
Day 5: October 7
1:1 team-mentor working session in breakout rooms
10 minutes per team
Followed by top team announcements from the jury
Hackathon Prerequisites
Hackathon Prerequisites
Hackathon Prerequisites
- The event is open to participants from the following regions: UK and Ireland, France, Germany (and DACH), Spain, Italy, Morocco, the Central and Eastern Europe Region (Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), Greece, the United Arab Emirates, and Kazakhstan.
- Teams must consist of at least 3, and at most 6, members. All team members must participate throughout the entire event; lack of complete participation will result in the entire team being excused.
- Teams should be working on a real-world AI use case with a target customer, regulated industry, or government / public-sector relevance.
- Teams are expected to be fluent with the code or project they bring to the event and motivated to make meaningful progress during the hackathon.
- Projects brought to the event must have a license attached and detailed in the application. Permissive-style Open Source Licenses (e.g. BSD, MIT, or Apache 2.0) are preferred as it's much easier for the hackathon organizer to pair your team with mentors. Helpful references:
Virtual Event Format
Virtual Event Format
The Open Models Codefest will be hosted online in the Central European Summer Time (CEST) time zone. All communication will be done through Zoom, Slack, and email. Each team will be assigned to a breakout room to work with mentors on their project and will present weekly progress reports (SCRUMs) at each event session.
Compute Resources
Compute Resources
Attendees will be given access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), equipped with the latest-generation NVIDIA GPUs, for the duration of the hackathon.
Attending the Hackathon
Attending the Hackathon
If your team is accepted to the hackathon, registration information will be provided, along with mentor introductions and access to compute resources.
Recommended Skills and Experience
Recommended Skills and Experience
No advanced AI or GPU skills are required, but it is helpful for teams to have familiarity with one or more of: the NVIDIA AI stack (NVIDIA Nemotron, NVIDIA NIM™, NVIDIA NeMo™, TensorRT), generative AI application development, agentic AI workflows, or public sector/ regulated-industry deployment considerations.
We recommend familiarizing yourself with these concepts by accessing any of the no-charge lectures, tutorials, and labs available to all participants.
GTC Berlin 2026 Registration Is Now Open
Join developers, researchers, and industry leaders on October 20–22 to explore the next wave of AI innovation. Take advantage of the early-bird rate and register by July 15 to save.
