Join forces with your fellow students to collaborate and innovate for the social good. Over the course of a weekend, you’ll be challenged to work on unique problems impacting the affordable housing issue. You’ll be provided with the data needed so you can write the code to right the world. Participating students will receive mentorship from data scientist professionals, the City of Jacksonville, The Link, and UNF experts. Three finalist teams will be selected and announced as winners during the AI For Good award ceremony. Top teams will also have the opportunity to partner with data science experts to bring their solutions to life. Join our hackathon, build your team, ask questions, and engage with mentors! In preparation for the hackathon, we encourage you to focus on one of these three problem cases related to the affordable housing issue: Problem Case #1: Build a predictive AI model to assess housing retention and displacement risk Problem Case #2: Develop an affordability index and an interactive AI tool to explore the indexes Problem Case #3: Generate data-driven recommendations for strategic affordable housing investments Food and beverages (brain fuel) will be provided throughout the event by the hackathon organizers. However, participants are responsible for arranging their own travel and accommodation. Hackathon Location: The Link Address: 425 Town Plaza Ave, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32081 The Link is an environment that fosters creativity, productivity, and human development. It is a premier coworking and event space with dedicated and floating desks, community spaces, lounges, and meeting rooms. The Link has facilities for showering and refreshing for event attendees. The hackathon organizers will allocate a meeting room as a quiet space for attendees to rest and recover. The Link or the hackathon organizers will not provide sleeping provisions. Participants are responsible for travel and accommodation costs. Meet the Partners The City of Jacksonville has launched an initiative called “State of Jax” to highlight Jacksonville’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. The State of Jax initiative is a public-private-academic partnership designed to provide accessible, data-driven insights into Jacksonville’s key social, economic, health, and educational indicators. Its mission is to support informed decision-making, improve community well-being, and promote social equity by making hyperlocal data available at the city and City Council district levels. The initiative aggregates data from trusted sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, HUD, and CDC. The initiative includes a Peer Cities Comparison feature that allows users to evaluate Jacksonville’s performance against 13 similar U.S. cities, offering context on strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. By providing these tools, the initiative empowers government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and residents to collaborate effectively on city planning, housing, education, and health initiatives, ultimately fostering a more equitable and thriving Jacksonville. The 2025 AI4Good hackathon aligns closely with the goals of the State of Jax initiative by using data to drive actionable insights on the affordable housing issue in Jacksonville. Participants will leverage curated datasets to identify neighborhoods at risk, analyze disparities, and propose targeted investments in affordable housing. By grounding hackathon work in data-driven approaches, teams can contribute recommendations that directly support informed decision-making, equitable development, and the city’s broader mission of fostering thriving, inclusive communities. The Link is a space that inspires visitors of all ages to “learn, play, think, and do.” The state-of-the-art building in Ponte Vedra’s Nocatee neighborhood offers unique amenities and an overall otherworldly experience for guests attending - or hosting - an event. The 22,500 sq ft building features open workspace and office space on level two and activity flex spaces on level one—empowering you to have an innovative place to work while doing activities you love. An innovation and activity hub approximately 30 minutes south of Jacksonville downtown and north of historic downtown St. Augustine, the Link has offerings for all ages and, has several event spaces available to rent. To learn more about the Link, visit https://www.thelink.zone/ Florida Data Science for Social Good (FL-DSSG) program blends data science and technology design to inform and solve important social problems in Florida. We accomplish this goal by partnering with non-profit and public sector organizations in Florida, analyzing their data, and finding impactful solutions to social issues. The FL-DSSG program provides internships and research opportunities for students from diverse disciplines to work on data science projects along with our community partners. Non-profit and public-sector organizations receive data analysis and visualization reports supporting their work in the Florida communities. Florida DSSG is hosted at the University of North Florida (UNF). For more information about the FL-DSSG, visit https://dssg.unf.edu/. AI4Good Hackathon Schedule Friday, October 31 Hackathon begins 4 PM - Kickoff event [First floor – near the stage] 4:30 PM – Introduction to problem cases and datasets overview 5 PM - Teams are formed, and data access info will be emailed to hackathon participants. Friday 6 PM - Dinner [First floor – Dining area] Friday 7 PM - Mentoring session on problem understanding [Second floor] Saturday, November 1 Full day of coding and hacking remainder of the day and through the night 9 AM – Breakfast [First floor] 11 AM - Mentoring session on selecting machine learning and AI techniques [Second floor] 12 PM – Lunch [First floor] 2 PM - Mentoring session on solution approach [Second floor] 6:30 PM – Dinner [First floor] 7 PM - Mentoring session on solution implementation [Second floor] Sunday, November 2 Last hours of hacking and conducting performance evaluations until 10 AM. 9 AM – Breakfast [First floor] 10 AM - Submit solutions to Devpost. Presentation order selections. 11 AM - Experts review solutions submitted and share their perspectives with the judging team 12 PM – Lunch [First floor] 1 PM to 3:30 PM - Team presentations [First floor] 3:30 PM - Hackathon Winner Award ceremony and event closing [First floor] Mentoring Sessions Friday, October 31 5 PM to 6 PM A list of mentors will be provided later. Saturday, November 1 11 AM to 12 PM A list of mentors will be provided later. 1 PM to 2 PM A list of mentors will be provided later. 7 PM to 8 PM A list of mentors will be provided later. For more information about the AI4Good Hackathon event and organizer information, please visit the 2025 Hackathon page.
Oct. 31, 2025 - Nov. 2, 2025
Florida Data Science for Social Good
425 Town Plaza Ave, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32081, USA
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