The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is organising Balkathon – “Smarten up for the future”, a regional online competition that encourages Western Balkan (WB) collaboration, co-creation and real-life change, with the idea to help the region, businesses and citizens to strengthen their resilience to global challenges. Balkathon brings together young innovative people, start-ups, digital innovation centres, science parks, universities, small and medium enterprises, etc. from the Western Balkan region in order to trigger digital innovative and practical business solutions in different areas.

In July 2020, RCC organised the first-ever regional competition on digital smart solutions Balkathon, as an agile solution to support the region to recover from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the second edition Balkathon 2.0 in May 2021. Of 90 applicants, 37 teams with over 120 team members were shortlisted and got an opportunity to work with assigned mentors, while 12 finalists presented their ideas to the expert jury that decided on 6 winners (one winner per each thematic area and two special awards).

Following the good practice, RCC is organising the third edition of Balkathon 3.0 that will focus on fresh innovative digital ideas and solutions in four thematic areas that will mark this year’s competition, and with novelty of being able to choose the desired topic from the Miscellaneous category.

At Balkathon 3.0 we focus on (1) eCommerce, Virtual Promotion Tools, Video and Influence Marketing, (2) Agriculture, FoodTech & Rural Development, (3) Renewable/ Sustainable Energy, (4) Transportation & Logistics, and (5) Miscellaneous. As it was the case with the previous competitions, the digital solutions must include innovative technological ideas with clear explanation of their implementation and sustainability in one of the above mentioned areas.

Balkathon 3.0 is open for teams composed of participants coming from Western Balkan economies. Teams are encouraged to include amongst their members qualified individuals; ICT companies; students; non-governmental organisations; educational institutions; start-up companies; etc.

By participating in Balkathon 3.0 you will get a two-day mentoring programme with experienced experts, opportunity to win 10.000 euro for your idea, and additional mentoring support to implement your idea in the Western Balkan region.

Applications are available here, and are open until 15 July 2022 (12:00h CET).

Before filling out the application form please read the Balkathon guidelines carefully in order to prepare all needed information and documents.

If your idea will smarten up the future, you are in the right place. Apply with your idea for Balkathon 2022.