Twenty-four hours non-stop, 35 participants selected from across Italy and divided into eight teams, one single goal: unleashing the potential of generative artificial intelligence. The FastwebAI Hackathon is the technology marathon promoted by Fastweb+Vodafone, where students, developers, start-ups and young innovators had the opportunity to develop new projects and solutions using the AI Solutions Suite and the Fastweb+Vodafone Supercomputer. The first edition took place on September 11–12 at Fastweb NeXXt headquarters in Milan and at STEP FuturAbility District.
Each team developed ideas, prototypes, and innovative solutions based on generative AI models, including MIIA, the Fastweb+Vodafone large language model, natively trained in Italian on authoritative data sources and in compliance with the AI Act. Projects were evaluated by a jury of professionals from Fastweb+Vodafone and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, according to several criteria: adherence to the chosen challenge, feasibility, innovation in the use of GenAI, potential applications for strategic sectors, and inclusiveness.
Two awards were assigned: for the “Best Innovative Project”, €5,000 in Amazon vouchers plus one-month free access to a computing node of the FastwebAI Factory Supercomputer; for the “Best Inclusion Project”, one team member won free enrollment in the Master’s in Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion offered by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, valued at approximately €3,500.
“The projects developed during this 24-hour technology marathon are a tangible demonstration of how generative artificial intelligence can foster business development and have a concrete impact on society,” said Alessandro Magnino, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer at Fastweb+Vodafone. “With the FastwebAI Hackathon we wanted to give space to young people, their ideas and their drive to innovate. Because we believe that innovation does not arise from a single individual, but from collaboration and the cross-pollination of ideas. The future of artificial intelligence is already here, and we are building it challenge after challenge.”