Over eight weeks, seven teams from four continents came together to tackle the WiDS Global Datathon 2026 challenge, applying machine learning and survival analysis to predict wildfire threats to evacuation zones using real-world data. Led by WiBD Global Hackathon Director Rupa Gangatirkar and Technical Advisor Stuti Patel, the program combined hands-on technical learning with global collaboration, mentorship, and innovation. Participants explored advanced AI techniques while building practical solutions for disaster preparedness, demonstrating the power of data science to address real-world challenges. Read the full recap to explore the teams’ journeys, key technical insights, and lessons learned.

Bay Area Chapter Co-directors Anat Zohar and Bhakti Hinduja designed and executed a truly well-structured hackathon, with exceptional leadership from Rupa Gangatirkar,  Stuti Patel, and  Srabasti Banerjee.  The Code4Impact Hackathon offered WiBD members the opportunity to build AI Agents for social good and design AI solutions with real social impact. The hackathon centered on creating AI Agents using LangChain, LangGraph, LLMs, MCP servers, and full-stack technologies, addressing a wide range of societal needs, from healthcare access and mental health to environmental action, education equity, social justice, and community resilience.

Team DataDivas (DataCamp Donates Scholars) members Ann Lam, Jasmin Rafi, and Vicky Yan mentored by industry experts Ravi Condamoor and Srividhya Chandrasekaran throughout the challenge.  They worked with comprehensive training datasets encompassing patients’ socio-demographic information, emotional and behavioral assessment scores, and fMRI data, which measures minute blood flow variations corresponding to brain activity patterns. The primary objective required teams to develop predictive models capable of determining both gender classification and ADHD diagnostic status based on the provided multimodal datasets.

This year’s competition was powered by the WiDS Worldwide 2025 Datathon Global Challenge and developed in partnership with the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI), in collaboration with Cornell University and UC Santa Barbara. The Healthy Brain Network (HBN, Child Mind Institute), the flagship scientific initiative of the Child Mind Institute, along with the Reproducible Brain Charts project (RBC), provided essential datasets and technical support for the competition.

The WiBD Spring Hackathon 2024 was a resounding success, running from April 9th to June 1st under the leadership of WiBD hackathon director Rupa Gangatirkar. This event provided an incredible opportunity for participants to engage with the Women in Data Science (WiDS) Worldwide 2024 Datathon on Kaggle. Teams were tasked with a significant challenge: predicting the time it takes for patients to receive a metastatic cancer diagnosis using a unique oncology dataset from Gilead Sciences. Additionally, teams conducted deep analyses on how climate patterns impact access to healthcare.

This program was sponsored by zbyte. Participants who completed the program by following the completion criteria of the program, received an award and participation credentials. In addition, zbyte offered one internship per Chapter, to be awarded following an interview process.

This program was specifically designed to advance Data Analysis, Big Data, Blockchain, Web3 application development using zbyte’s platform and technical leadership skills through collaborative team-based hackathon participation. WiBD participating chapters included WiBD Northwest chapter, WiBD India chapter and WiBD Costa Rica chapter.

Data Science Olympians (DSO) is a Technical Mentoring program through Data Science Competitions, offered by Women in Big Data’s Bay Area Chapter. In its third year of offering, this program is specifically designed to advance Data Analysis, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and technical leadership skills through collaborative data science contest participation.

Women in Big Data (WiBD) NW chapter, conducted the first ever Data Science Varsity (DSV) program in partnership with Oregon State University, University of Portland and supported by Intel Corp. WiBD NW aspires to engage with local educators, attract the new generation of talent to Data Science and technology fields and establish a deeper collaboration with industry partners through networking. The 3-month long Data Varsity program was designed to advance students in their technical acumen of data skills and leadership through a data challenge with 4 participating teams.

Women in Big Data Canberra Australia chapter held a Data challenge in partnership with the National Gallery of Australia. The challenge was “Using the National Gallery’s Collection API or the exported data set, tell us a new or interesting story about the works of art in the collection”.

Bentley’s User Experience Graduate Association partnered with Women In Big Data (WiBD) to host their annual design hackathon, an event where teams compete to propose innovative solutions conducive to combating prominent obstacles within modern society. The objective of this year’s hackathon was to eliminate bias while increasing diversity among the Big Data and technology community.