THE Accenture Digital Connected Hackathon, held internationally in collaboration with Expo 2020 Dubai, and locally in partnership with Etisalat Digital, took place in Dubai and seven other cities in Europe and the Middle East simultaneously: Rome, London, Madrid, Amsterdam, Dortmund, Prague, Istanbul and Dubai. As international collaborators on the event, Accenture Digital, Expo2020 Dubai, along with Etisalat Digital in the UAE, are leveraging their expertise and platforms to help youth in realizing their technology projects through the "Connect. Collaborate. Create" competition aimed to encourage collaboration and inspire the creation of social innovation projects for a more inclusive future. Participants were asked to create innovative ideas focusing on the three themes at the center of the World Expo to be held in Dubai in 2020-21: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability, inspired by Expo 2020 Dubai's core theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future'. Team "Squirrels" won first place in Dubai and third place internationally across eight cities at the Accenture Digital Connected Hackathon. "Portakal" is the winning team of the international competition. The team will now travel to the UAE to present its ideas to Expo 2020 Dubai. Their project, "Planty", was an integrated, mobile kit for micro farming that allows people living in urban areas with limited access to space, soil and water to grow their own fruit and vegetables, and at the same time to reconnect with nature. Planty brought together a range of simple equipment and digital tools to educate and guide users. Two hundred ninety two participants presented 62 ideas across 8 cities.
