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Good practice Imported

Girls in AI Bulgaria — Digital National Alliance and UNICEF's National Teens in AI Hackathons

Bulgaria · Sofia · See the Bulgaria profile · See the Sofia profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 56% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Bulgaria's Digital National Alliance ran two national Teens in AI hackathons (2021, 2022) with UNICEF Bulgaria support, engaging over 100 children aged 12-18 — with explicit outreach to girls — who built nearly 20 AI projects judged by an international jury.

100+ children aged 12-18
Children participating (2021-2022)
~20 projects
AI-based projects built (2021-2022)
Girls in AI Bulgaria — Digital National Alliance and UNICEF's National Teens in AI Hackathons

Details

Promoter
Digital National Alliance (DNA) / Teens in AI / UNICEF Bulgaria
Period
2021–2022
Region (NUTS)
BG411
Keywords
AI literacy, gender equality, youth education

Context

Teens in AI is a global initiative launched at the UN's 2018 "AI for Good" summit to diversify who builds AI. Bulgaria's Digital National Alliance (DNA) became the national host from October 2021, branding its local chapter "Girls in AI Bulgaria" with backing from UNICEF Bulgaria.

Objectives

Engage children aged 12-18, with explicit outreach to girls and to underserved regions and minority communities, in building AI projects addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Activities

DNA organised back-to-back hackathons in October 2021 and March 2022, moving online during COVID-19 restrictions to reach children from underserved regions and minority communities across Bulgaria.

Results

More than 100 children with a range of prior technical experience developed close to 20 AI-based projects addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals, evaluated by an international jury.

Conclusions

Public information does not report post-event skill assessments or long-term outcome tracking, and the most detailed public results date to the initial 2021-2022 hackathons rather than a documented ongoing yearly cadence.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Online hackathon format relying on volunteer mentors and an international jury; no public budget disclosed.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Two hackathons held, October 2021 and March 2022.
Staffing & skills
Digital National Alliance (DNA), national host, UNICEF Bulgaria, International jury of AI/tech experts, Teens in AI global network

Conditions for success

  • Online delivery to reach underserved regions and minority communities during COVID-19 restrictions
  • International jury judging projects against UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Backing of an established global network (Teens in AI, 60+ countries)

Common failure modes

  • No post-event skill assessment or long-term outcome tracking reported
  • No documented ongoing yearly cadence beyond the initial two hackathons

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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