Organised by QNX, a division of BlackBerry, the virtual competition is open to individuals, teams and organisations interested in developing software for practical applications across industries such as automotive, robotics, healthcare and embedded systems.

The competition features five categories, giving participants opportunities to earn cash rewards, gain industry recognition and engage with QNX executives. Developers will also receive free non-commercial access to the QNX Software Development Platform (SDP) 8.0 through the company’s QNX Everywhere initiative.

Hackathon categories

Participants are required to submit projects under one of five competition categories:

– Robotics and Medical: Development of real-time applications for environments where timing, safety and reliability are essential.

– Automotive and Mobility: Software solutions designed for vehicles and other mobility-related applications.

– Low-level Software: Development of board support components and device drivers using the QNX Driver Development Kit.

– Developer Tooling and Host Tools: Creation of tools that facilitate software development, testing and analysis for QNX.

– Open-Source Contribution and Ports: Porting existing open-source projects to QNX or contributing to the operating system’s open-source ecosystem.

Prize money and additional benefits

The QNX Global Hackathon 2026 has a total cash prize pool of $50,000, distributed across several award categories.

The overall Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000, alongside a feature on a podcast and a coffee chat with the QNX CEO.

Winners in each of the five competition categories will receive $4,000 each, while the five runners-up will be awarded $2,000 apiece.

Three additional projects will receive Honourable Mention awards of $1,000 each.

The competition also offers two bonus awards worth $3,500 each for Best Codelab/Tutorial and Best Use of QNX-specific Technologies.

Beyond the cash prizes, the Community Choice winner will receive recognition through a feature on QNX’s blog and social media platforms, as well as branded merchandise.

Who can apply?

The competition is open to individuals aged 18 and above, teams comprising eligible participants, and legally established organisations, including companies and nonprofit entities.

However, participation is subject to the official competition rules, which include restrictions applicable to entrants from certain countries and territories. Prospective applicants are advised to review the eligibility conditions before registering.

Project submission requirements

Applicants must develop a functional software project that runs on or targets the QNX 8.0 operating system.

Eligible submissions include applications, drivers, libraries and other software components designed to run on QNX 8.0. Developers can also submit host-based tools built for Windows, macOS or Linux, provided they support the development, testing, analysis or other processes associated with software targeting QNX 8.0.

Projects must either be newly developed or significantly updated during the hackathon submission period.

Each entry must include a publicly accessible code repository with an open-source licence, a detailed project description, instructions for building and running the software, and a demonstration video.

The demonstration video must be uploaded publicly to YouTube and must not exceed three minutes.

Submissions are also required to show how the project uses or supports QNX 8.0. Participants can use supported hardware or QEMU as their development and testing environment.

How to participate

Interested developers, teams and organisations can register through the official QNX Global Hackathon page on Devpost.

The application process involves the following steps:

1. Visit the QNX Global Hackathon registration page.

2. Create a free Devpost account or sign in if you already have one.

3. Register for the competition and access the required developer tools.

4. Develop a project that meets the QNX 8.0 requirements and select one of the five competition categories.

5. Prepare the required public code repository, project description, technical instructions and demonstration video.

6. Upload and submit the completed project through the Devpost platform before the application deadline.

Participants can obtain the QNX Software Development Platform 8.0 through the QNX Everywhere developer programme, which provides free non-commercial access to the development tools.

Application deadline

The submission deadline for the QNX Global Hackathon 2026 is 15 December 2026 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Source:QNX