KommHack!
Free of charge For public-sector bodies
From a municipal problem to AI prototypes to implementation. In just a few modules, we turn your challenge into a digital solution – guided, practical and built to last.
Application period: until 15 November 2026
powered by
THIS IS KOMMHACK!
Digital solutions for your challenges
KommHack! supports cities, municipalities, districts and other public-sector bodies from the first outline of a problem all the way to implementation. In 6 compact modules over 2.5 months, we sharpen your challenge from public administration, build working AI prototypes with top talent in a two-day hackathon, and develop a concrete roadmap for putting them to use in your own organisation.
ProgramHow KommHack! works
How KommHack! works
BEFORE: UNTIL 15 NOV 2026
Application
You describe your problem. We check whether it fits the format and whether a solution is already available on the market. Selection and confirmation by the end of December.
01: FEBRUARY/MARCH 2027
Understanding the problem
Together with experienced mentors, you sharpen your problem and make your assumptions visible. You then talk to the people affected by it or those who significantly shape the solution. The result is your challenge: a task a team can work on for two days.
02: EARLY APRIL 2027
Building a prototype
For two days, additional top talent works with you on your challenge. You can either work alongside the team or contribute your expertise as the problem owner. No coding skills required on your side. The result is a tangible prototype.
03: END OF APRIL 2027
Choosing your route to implementation
A prototype is not yet a deployable solution, but it shows what is needed. We map out possible routes to implementation, which you assess and discuss on site with experts such as municipal IT service providers. Together, we shape your roadmap from there.
AFTER: SEPTEMBER 2027
Demo Day
Everyone comes back together and shares public insight into the problem, the solution approach and the route to implementation. That way you can inspire others, enable them to reuse your results, or contribute to shaping solutions further.
THE FOUNDATION
Driving progress with the IPAI Foundation
The IPAI Foundation explores how we can generate societal and technological progress around human-centred artificial intelligence.
In doing so, it takes on the perspectives of relevant stakeholders and empowers them through a wide range of formats: science, research, business, society and the public sector.
BEFORE YOU APPLY
Does your problem fit the format?
Cutting red tape? Relieving the workload of staff and/or citizens? Digitalising administration?
We want to start with the problems that matter to you.
YOUR INVESTMENT | YOUR RESULT
Taking part is free. What you invest is time.
Taking part as an individual is possible, but experience shows results are better in a team. Why not bring along the neighbouring municipality that shares your problem?
What KommHack! is not
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about KommHack!
Non-profit or public-law organisations such as cities, municipalities, school authorities or public-law institutions. Companies organised under private law cannot take part, even if they are wholly owned by a municipality. Places are limited. You can apply as a team, ideally with two to three people from one organisation. Only able to take part on your own? That is possible in principle too.
Nothing. The format is run on a non-profit basis and there is no participation fee. The only costs you cover yourselves are travel and accommodation for the four on-site days. The three online sessions and the Demo Day take place digitally, so no one has to travel for those.
An event where a group works intensively on a task for a short, fixed period and builds something tangible by the end. In this case, that period is two days. Participants sign up through an open call. In our experience, the people who join are mainly students and early-career professionals keen to work on a municipal problem – but anyone is welcome to take part.
At the end of the programme, you have a roadmap. Which route it sets out is your decision, taken on the "Routes to implementation" day. Possible options:
Finish it yourselves. Where it has become clear that a solution you build in-house works for your case and only needs refining.
Adopt an existing solution from the market. Where it turns out after the hackathon that there is in fact a deployable solution on the market that fits your needs.
Implement it with partners. An IT service provider, the hackathon team or other formats build the solution together with you. We are happy to point out which partners or offerings could be worth exploring. If other municipalities have the same problem, you could also fund the implementation jointly.
Yes, that is part of the format. Your challenge goes into an open call for participation in the hackathon – otherwise no one can apply to work on it. At the Demo Day, you give other municipal representatives insight into the problem, the solution approach and the route to implementation, so that everyone can benefit from each other's results.
Contact us
Questions about KommHack?
Feel free to reach out!
Nikolai Krischke
Innovation Circle Manager NXTGN
Dr. Philipp Bauer
Program Manager GovAI IPAI Foundation
