Rise Networks, INEC, Meta, Google, Microsoft Launch ₦10m AI Election Hackathon

Rise Networks, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Meta, Google and Microsoft have launched a ₦10 million synthetic intelligence (AI) hackathon forward of Nigeria’s 2027 common elections, with the general winner set to obtain ₦4 million, the runner-up ₦2.5 million and the third-place winner ₦1.5 million.

The #AI4Elections Hackathon 2026–2027 may also provide 4 particular prizes of ₦500,000 every for improvements in analysis and coverage, electoral and civic inclusion, accountable AI and security, and cybersecurity and resilience.

Applications which opened on October 22, will shut on November 12, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. West African Time, in response to a press release by the organisers.

The programme, which runs from October 2026 to February 2027, will embrace a nationwide finale and innovation showcase in Lagos on December 16, 2026, adopted by technical assist for promising tasks.

Organised by Rise Networks with assist from the MacArthur Foundation and Luminate, the initiative seeks to mobilise Nigerian know-how expertise to develop sensible AI options that may strengthen electoral integrity, enhance entry to dependable data and promote public confidence in democratic establishments.

The programme comes amid rising considerations in regards to the affect of AI on data manufacturing and digital communication, significantly the unfold of misinformation, AI-generated pictures and movies, privateness dangers, cybersecurity threats and the potential manipulation of electoral data.

It additionally builds on Rise Networks’ Run-Am, an AI-powered misinformation detection and fact-checking utility developed for Nigeria’s 2023 common elections.

Founder of Rise Networks, Dr Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, stated the initiative was designed to encourage accountable technological innovation that protects the integrity of the electoral course of moderately than introduce know-how with out sufficient consideration of its dangers.

“Our ambition is not to introduce technology for technology’s sake. We are committed to promoting responsible AI innovation that respects the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process, protects citizens’ rights, and prioritises transparency, privacy, and human oversight. Innovation must strengthen our democracy, not create new vulnerabilities for it,” she stated.

Akerele-Ogunsiji stated Nigeria wanted to organize for the rising function of know-how in elections by creating options that deal with the nation’s electoral realities.

“We must begin to harness the power of artificial intelligence to strengthen electoral integrity, expand access to information, and build greater public confidence in our democratic institutions. The #AI4Elections Hackathon is an opportunity to bring our brightest minds together to develop solutions that respond to the realities of our electoral process,” she added.

The initiative will concentrate on 5 principal areas: AI and Trustworthy Electoral Information; Electoral Data Analysis, Operational Insights and Decision Support; Inclusive and Multilingual Electoral and Civic Technology; Electoral Cybersecurity and Resilience; and Election Observation and Citizen Accountability.

Climate resilience and environmental innovation may also be thought of as a cross-cutting theme.

Participants are anticipated to develop technically credible options, together with software program purposes, prototypes, AI instruments and fashions, data-analysis techniques, accessible civic know-how, multilingual interfaces and open-source elements.

Beyond the competitors, the assertion stated the programme will function by three linked elements: the hackathon, an Elections Development Hub and an Electoral Community of Practice.

The hackathon will present a platform for individuals to design, develop and reveal their options. The Development Hub will assist additional testing and refinement of promising tasks, whereas the Community of Practice will join individuals, mentors and establishments to maintain studying and collaboration past the competitors.

The programme is open to Nigerians and other people of Nigerian origin aged 18 and above. Eligible individuals embrace college college students, researchers, software program builders, AI engineers, information scientists, cybersecurity professionals, know-how entrepreneurs, civic-tech innovators, electoral specialists, civil society practitioners, product designers, accessibility specialists and coverage professionals.

Applicants could enter individually or in groups of as much as 4 members. Team-matching assist can be accessible to people searching for collaborators, whereas all submissions have to be made in English.

The organisers stated non-Nigerians, proposals restricted to concepts, presentation decks or mock-ups, and tasks that had already obtained grants, awards or recognition in earlier competitions wouldn’t be eligible.

Speaking at a press convention in Abuja, Dr Lawrence Bayode stated the problem was to harness AI’s potential with out compromising the credibility of elections.

“The question before us is no longer whether AI has a role to play in an election, but how we can harness its potential without compromising the integrity, transparency and credibility of the electoral process,” he stated.

Meta’s Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, Sade Dada, stated the corporate would work with INEC to advertise dependable election data and deal with false claims, together with deceptive movies and pictures created utilizing AI.

She highlighted Meta’s “Remove, Reduce and Inform” method to dangerous content material and its GovGuide Nigeria AI chatbot, which gives government-related data in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

Dada stated AI-powered election instruments should stay politically impartial and function underneath human oversight, stressing the significance of reliable data to electoral credibility.

“Nigeria matters so much, enormously, to Meta,” she stated.

“The 2027 elections matter far beyond Nigeria’s borders. If Nigeria gets it right on trustworthy information, the continent will learn from it and, indeed, the world,” she added.

Other audio system, together with Lagos Business School Dean, Prof. Olayinka David-West, and authorized practitioner Tsema Ede, stated AI may assist enhance election administration, together with outcomes administration, however emphasised the necessity for transparency and public belief.

The organisers careworn that the hackathon was not meant to develop partisan marketing campaign know-how, affect voters’ political preferences or intrude with election administration.

Projects should adjust to ideas of non-partisanship, equal remedy, respect for electoral regulation, safety of private data and human oversight. Unauthorised testing of stay electoral techniques or entry to institutional infrastructure can be prohibited.

They additionally clarified that profitable the competitors wouldn’t mechanically authorise an answer for operational use in an election. Any subsequent pilot or deployment involving electoral establishments would require the related authorized, institutional, technical and safety approvals.

The initiative brings collectively know-how, electoral, educational and civil society companions, together with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Google, Microsoft, Meta, NITHUB on the University of Lagos, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), CLEEN Foundation, Tap Initiative for Citizens’ Development, the International Press Centre (IPC), Legal Naija, Ahmadu Bello University and the Federal University of Technology, Akure.

Rise Networks additionally invited know-how corporations, monetary establishments, telecommunications operators, improvement companions, foundations, universities and analysis establishments to assist the programme by sponsorship, infrastructure, mentorship, analysis and incubation.

It added that additional data on eligibility and purposes is out there at ai4elections.risenetworks.org.