1st Place
Prize package for the winning team.
Six areas at the edge of what's being built with AI today, each shaped by a problem that is real in Haiti. Every project should answer three questions: who uses it, what happens when infrastructure is limited, and why it could matter beyond Haiti. Teams choose a frontier when applying; the choice is final, but the project idea within it can evolve during training.
Much of Haiti's economy runs on cash, memory, and WhatsApp, and very little software was built for it. Build agents for small businesses, the informal economy, transport, payments, and remittances, using WhatsApp, SMS, voice, or local payment systems where relevant.
What you could build:
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A Kreyòl voice bookkeeper for a small business
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A stock and pricing agent for a neighborhood shop
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An invoicing and payment-reminder agent
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A consent-based alternative credit profile using transaction history
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A remittance assistant for the Haitian diaspora
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An agent to help a tap-tap owner track trips, fuel, and repairs
Power and connectivity are not guaranteed, so AI that depends on the cloud does not always work here. Build systems that run on phones, computers, sensors, and devices, process information locally, and sync when a connection is available.
What you could build:
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An on-device vision model for crops, equipment, or documents
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A sensor system for water tanks, solar panels, or medical equipment
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An offline assistant for community health workers
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A local AI workstation for a school or clinic
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An edge AI workflow for a robot or drone
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A reliable sync layer for intermittently connected systems
Voice is becoming a major interface for AI, and many people in Haiti would rather speak than type, but Kreyòl remains underserved by most models. Build speech recognition, text-to-speech, translation, voice agents, and datasets that make AI useful for Kreyòl speakers.
What you could build:
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Kreyòl speech recognition for real-world environments
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Natural Kreyòl text-to-speech
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An open dataset for Kreyòl voice and transcription
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A voice-first interface for health, banking, or public services
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Real-time Kreyòl ↔ French ↔ English ↔ Spanish translation
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A voice agent that completes forms through conversation
Insecurity in Haiti takes many forms, physical, food, health, economic, and the uncertainty of not knowing what is happening around you. Build AI systems that help people and communities stay informed, stay safe, coordinate resources, and respond when infrastructure or services are under pressure.
What you could build:
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A community safety information system that verifies and shares alerts by neighborhood
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Early-warning systems for hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes
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A food-security tool that tracks market prices, supply, or shortages by region
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Guided medical triage in Kreyòl when no doctor is available
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Community mapping for passable roads, water points, or open pharmacies
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A public-service assistant accessible by phone
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A tool for checking claims and rumors against trusted local sources
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A coordination platform for volunteers, supplies, and displaced families
Many students prepare for NS4 and the bac without a tutor or reliable electricity, and many teachers work with few resources. Build tutors, teacher copilots, career tools, and learning experiences that fit Haiti's curriculum, languages, and infrastructure.
What you could build:
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An offline tutor for the Haitian curriculum
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A teacher copilot for lessons and exercises
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A career guide for the Haitian and diaspora job markets
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Voice-based adult literacy tools
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Exam preparation with personalized gap analysis
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A study planner that works around irregular electricity
Have an idea that doesn't fit the other frontiers? Build it. Explore AI for areas such as logistics, energy, tourism, music, creative tools, or anything else where you see an opportunity.
The only rules:
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Solve a real problem for a defined user
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Consider what happens when infrastructure is limited
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Have something working at demo time
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Show why the idea could matter beyond Haiti
We reward what works, what serves someone, and what could go further than Haiti. Prizes go to the top three teams, with one award per frontier and special awards for standout work.
Prize package for the winning team.
Prize package for the runner-up.
Prize package for third place.
Partners back awards of their own, judged alongside the main prizes. A team can win one of these and place in the top three.
Best Kreyòl Voice Experience
powered by ElevenLabs
For the team that makes Kreyòl speech genuinely usable — recognition, synthesis, or translation that works for someone who would rather speak than type. Fits the Kreyòl-Native, Voice-First frontier, though any project that earns it can win.
Ayiti AI