Hackathon Wins at Testbed Hackathon 2026
Two Groundbreaker Talents helped their teams win first and second place at the UCC Testbed Hackathon 2026, building AI-powered solutions to make the internet safer for children.
Alongside their Software & AI Engineering training with our education partners, we encourage our Talents to take part in hackathons and industry events. These events let them apply their skills to real-world challenges, meet other tech professionals and expand their networks.
On 5–6 November, 40 young innovators came together at the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Testbed in Kampala. The challenge: develop practical AI solutions to protect children from online threats, including cyberbullying and harmful content.
Our Talents Tisha Patience and Sharitah Nanteza were part of the two winning teams.
First Place: K-Guard – Protecting Children From Harmful Content
Tisha Patience and her team developed K-Guard (Kids Guard), an Android app that identifies inappropriate online content and gives parents greater oversight of their children’s digital experiences.
Tisha worked with Kotlin, Jetpack Compose and AI-powered content moderation, and contributed to the project’s documentation and pitch. A key lesson for the team was how to balance online protection with children’s privacy, including using on-device AI to minimise data sharing.
Second Place: Nilinde – AI Against Cyberbullying
Sharitah Nanteza and her team built Nilinde, meaning “protect me” in Swahili. The solution combines an offline-first digital safety keyboard with a secure evidence vault to tackle online harassment and cyberbullying.
Sharitah focused on the technical architecture. She integrated Sunbird AI’s localised model so it works offline in Luganda, Runyankole and Swahili. The biggest challenge came during the final presentation, when the team’s live demo setup unexpectedly failed.
“When our live demo setup broke on stage mid-pitch, managing that crisis in real time alongside my team was probably the biggest learning for me personally!” — Sharitah Nanteza
Congratulations to Tisha, Sharitah and their teams for successfully mastering these challenges!
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