SOTE AI Hackathon 2026
Tackling challenges in social and healthcare at a hackathon.
Updated 17 September 2026
Translated with the assistance of AI.
The Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County will organise a social and healthcare hackathon in Espoo on 13–14 October 2026, where development teams will build AI solutions to social and healthcare challenges identified by the wellbeing services county. In line with the promise for change set out in our strategy, we want to be a pioneer in the use of technology, and the hackathon is a new way for us to invite different actors to tackle our challenges. Sitra (external link)is the main partner of the hackathon.
The aim is to explore new ways of building solutions that meet the real needs of residents.
Who is the event for?
The event is free of charge and intended for teams of 2–5 people with expertise in areas such as software development, data, artificial intelligence, service design, business, or social and healthcare. Participants register for the event as a pre-formed team: the organiser will not form teams or match individual participants with each other.
Event programme
(Preliminary programme, subject to change)
Day 1: Tuesday, 13 October 2026
- 08:00–09:00 Registration
- 09:00–10:45 Opening of the event and introduction to the challenge areas
- 10:45–12:00 Panel discussion on proactive social and healthcare, team orientation and mentor briefing
- 12:00–13:00 Lunch
- 13:00–15:00 Teamwork, expert talks and jury briefing
- 15:00–15:15 Break
- 15:15–16:15 First progress review
- 16:15–16:30 Teamwork continues and wrap-up of the first day
- 16:30–18:30 Joint networking event
Day 2: Wednesday, 14 October 2026
- 08:00–09:00 Registration
- 09:00–09:15 Opening of the second day
- 09:15–11:15 Teamwork, workshops and talks
- 11:15–12:00 Second progress review
- 12:00–13:00 Lunch
- 13:00–14:30 Finalising solutions and preparing for the final
- 14:30–16:00 Submission of solutions and joint pitch presentations
- 16:00–16:45 Break and jury evaluation
- 16:45–17:30 Selection of winners and joint closing
Three challenge areas
Download the detailed descriptions of the challenges below. (in Finnish)
Synthetic client and patient data without authorisation processes
Teams will have access to synthetic client profiles produced by Veil.AI, combining healthcare and social services data for the same person, including diagnoses, medication, episodes of care, professionals’ free-text notes and service interactions across different channels.
The data is artificially generated, allowing teams to build solutions without the authorisation processes associated with patient data. The profiles are based on the population structure of Western Uusimaa and national classifications, enabling solutions to be developed around realistic service pathways.
Teams may also use their own environment and their own data.
Teams will be mentored by social and healthcare professionals and digital experts from the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County (LUVN), as well as experts from the sector. Teams retain ownership of the solutions they produce during the hackathon. The main language of the event is Finnish. Not all team members need to speak Finnish fluently, as long as the team has sufficient Finnish-language skills to understand the challenges and present their solution.
Parallel programme: Proactive healthcare
As part of the SOTE AI Hackathon, a separate programme focusing on proactive healthcare (secondary prevention) will be organised to explore new solutions and perspectives for the future of healthcare!
The programme takes a holistic approach, illustrating the benefits of proactive healthcare through practical use cases while laying the groundwork for technological solutions. Vertical is fully responsible for the programme's content, experts, outputs and any potential further development.
For more information about the programme and registration, please contact Vertical directly: Lars Melakoski, lars@vertical.vc.
How will the solutions be evaluated?
The solutions will be evaluated by social and healthcare professionals and experts from LUVN, HUS, and representatives of the participating wellbeing services counties and the City of Helsinki. In addition to Western Uusimaa, the participating wellbeing services counties are South Savo, Kanta-Häme, Central Finland, Central Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme and Vantaa and Kerava.
The solutions will also gain visibility across the participating wellbeing services counties. The best solutions may ultimately be adopted beyond the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County.
Solutions will be evaluated based on five criteria: impact, feasibility, use of artificial intelligence, responsibility and innovation. The weighting and more detailed descriptions of the criteria are set out in the event rules.
The Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County will award the most impactful solutions in the challenge areas included in the competition.
What happens to the solutions after the event?
The best solutions may move forward to further development with LUVN and other wellbeing services counties. Work with the teams selected for further development will continue, for example, through joint workshops where the solutions will be developed towards piloting and implementation. Selection for further development is not tied to the awards, and solutions may be selected from any of the challenge areas.
Interested in developing healthcare and social services? Join us in tackling these challenges!
Would your company or team like to take on the technical challenges? Teams that register by Sunday, 20 September will be invited to an advance Q&A session with LUVN experts on Wednesday, 23 September from 16:00 to 17:00. Registration closes on Sunday, 4 October 2026 at 23:59.
Register via the Junction platform. (external link)
Would you like to exchange ideas with other wellbeing services counties about innovation and development and see the solutions created at the hackathon? Registration for members of the public, experts and partners via Lyyti closes on Friday, 9 October 2026.
Why is LUVN organising a hackathon?
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming social and healthcare. We want to ensure that solutions are genuinely built around the needs of LUVN and our residents.
The hackathon is a new way for us to invite different actors to tackle our challenges. At the same time, we are inviting wellbeing services counties, technology providers and other actors in the social and healthcare sector to discuss the development of the sector.
Further information:
- Hackathon challenges: Veera Vihula, Development Manager, veera.vihula@luvn.fi
- Participating in the hackathon: YC Felin, Vertical, yc@vertical.vc, +358 45 134 1336
