Opportunity brief
If civilization had to begin again tomorrow, what would humanity build first?
- Unlike conventional hackathons that ask participants to build products around a technology, DAY ZERO challenges teams to engineer the foundations of an entirely new civilization.
- Participants are encouraged to think beyond applications and incremental improvements. Every project should solve a meaningful challenge that contributes to rebuilding society—whether through communication, energy, healthcare, infrastructure, education, resilience, exploration, or entirely new approaches that redefine the future.
- This is not about recreating yesterday.
- It is about engineering tomorrow.
The Mission:
- Design and develop an innovative solution that would help humanity rebuild after the collapse of modern civilization.
- Your project may be software, hardware, embedded systems, IoT, AI, robotics, communication systems, cybersecurity, biotechnology, space technology, sustainable engineering, or any interdisciplinary solution aligned with the mission.
- Projects should focus on solving real-world problems with practical engineering, long-term scalability, and meaningful societal impact.
Civilization Pillars:
- Every project belongs to one of the official Civilization Pillars that represent the essential functions required to rebuild society.
- The detailed descriptions of all pillars are provided separately.
- Choose the pillar that best represents the purpose of your solution, not simply the technologies you use.
Who Can Participate?
- Students from any recognized institution are welcome.
- Participants from all engineering, science, technology, design, management, and interdisciplinary backgrounds are encouraged.
- Teams must follow the team size specified on the registration page.
- Innovation thrives when diverse disciplines work together.
What Can You Build?
We welcome projects across a wide range of domains, including but not limited to:
- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
- Embedded Systems & Electronics
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Robotics & Automation
- Wireless Communication Systems
- Healthcare & Medical Technologies
- Renewable Energy
- Smart Infrastructure
- Disaster Management
- Cybersecurity
- Space & Aerospace Technologies
- Sustainability
- Human-Centered Design
- Frontier & Moonshot Innovations
If your solution contributes meaningfully to rebuilding civilization, it belongs here.
Submission Requirements:
Teams should be prepared to submit:
- Project presentation
- Technical documentation
- Source code repository
- Prototype or proof of concept
- Demonstration video (if applicable)
Additional submission guidelines and templates will be shared with registered participants.
Evaluation:
Projects will be assessed on their overall contribution toward rebuilding civilization, including:
- Innovation
- Engineering excellence
- Technical feasibility
- Scalability
- Societal impact
- Resilience
- Quality of presentation
The complete judging rubric is available in the attached documentation.
General Rules:
- All submitted work must be original.
- Open-source libraries, frameworks, APIs, and development tools may be used with proper attribution.
- AI-assisted development is permitted unless otherwise specified.
- Plagiarism or intellectual property violations will result in immediate disqualification.
- Participants are expected to maintain professionalism and uphold the event's code of conduct.
- Decisions made by the organizing committee and judging panel will be final.
- A comprehensive rulebook is available in the attached resources.
Why Participate?
- DAY ZERO is more than a competition.
- It is an opportunity to think like the engineers who would shape the first generation of a new civilization.
- Challenge assumptions.
- Collaborate across disciplines.
- Build technologies that matter.
- Engineer systems that could redefine humanity's future.
- Tomorrow Begins Here.
- History remembers the civilizations that were built.
- The next one starts with your idea.