This was Biovatech Hackathon in Constantine

After 30y I haven't seen Algeria. My family and friends told me it has changed a lot and going back to the city I was born in to participate to a hackathon was honestly an excuse I couldn't resist.

First thanks to Aymen and the Webia team. They invited me to participate as a jury and the team is great, fully dedicated to make that country move on.

About the organizers: what a team too. From the lobby to the competition and the awards ceremony it had nothing to envy to some of the international conferences I did in the past. The campus is H-U-G-E and you get easily lost but with the local hospitality mindset you'll find someone guiding you. I also noted that English was more prominent that French amongst students, which is a clear signal that the new gen is turning towards the international market.

Regarding the ideas, they were divided into 3 categories: Agritech, Health Tech and Pharma Tech. A lot of energy could be felt, lots of AI used of course, and like any hackathon, the focused was, for my taste, too focused on building rather than going-to-market. This is a university after all. But some ideas are worth exploring especially the ones in Agritech. Some healthcare ideas too.

The students exercised their presentation skills, which wasn't an easy task. Some did better than others and clearly some people there have already a professional maturity that can make them great in the business side. I also noticed a lot of women in the cohort which is confirming the data that STEM fields are definitely attracting girls which is cool to see as a diversity for these careers.

I spent a day there. Beyond the smiles, the energy, the good atmosphere and the food, I was honestly pleasantly surprised by the level of entrepreneurship will this generation has to offer and I am sure some of these minds will do wonders for their country. I passed on a message that emerging markets like Algeria have everything to offer them as a green field to do business, and that the attraction of the occidental might not be as strong or useful as before.

Perhaps one part I didn't felt is the investment. No VC in the room, poor knowledge of how leveraging venture capital can truly make a difference for high technology powered companies. This is perhaps the occasion to discuss this in a podcast following the event.

Thanks Biovatech, Techwaves, Webia and Aymen for the invite. It was a blast and I wish this has more visibility to promote these talents in the world.