International hackathon united over 150 innovators to tackle real-world healthcare challenges

150 participants, 30 mentors, 9 challenges, and 4 countries – on March 13-14 2025, the Care About IT international hackathon brought together the brightest students in healthcare and technology for a dynamic two-day online event that pushed boundaries and created real impact.

The Care about IT project explores the opportunities and challenges in vocational education and training (VET) within the care and IT sectors. Through collaboration and innovation, the hackathon seeked to develop forward-looking solutions that ensure education in the care industry remains future-ready.

A united effort across borders

Organised in collaboration with institutions from Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, and Italy, the hackathon connected students, mentors, and experts in a virtual environment that fostered creativity, teamwork, and international cooperation. Over two days, participants worked in 27 teams to address nine complex healthcare challenges submitted by hospitals, public organisations, and tech companies across Europe. The event showcased how cross-border collaboration and digital platforms can power innovation, even in the most demanding fields like healthcare.

A key figure guiding the event’s energy and flow was Helen Minařík, who moderated the hackathon with clarity, professionalism, and warmth. Her role was crucial in ensuring smooth transitions between sessions, keeping participants engaged, and maintaining a cohesive pace throughout the event. Helen’s ability to connect with both the audience and speakers helped create a supportive and inspiring virtual atmosphere, which made a lasting impression on participants.

Solving the tough questions in healthcare

The challenges were rooted in real-world problems – from reducing pain in children during medical procedures to improving user experience with complex AI-based planning systems. Each problem required a unique combination of technical understanding, empathy, and forward-thinking.

Among the key challenges were:

• Improving hospital waste management (Netherlands)
• Designing solutions to raise AI awareness in healthcare (Estonia)
• Encouraging older adults to adopt health monitoring systems (Italy)
• Creating a digital avatar for future health tech professionals (Finland)

The diversity of topics mirrored the diversity of the participants, who came from institutions such as Tallinn Health Care College, Turku Vocational Institute, Drenthe College, ITS ICT Academy, Estonian Business School, Zetech University, kood/Jõhvi, and several vocational training centres. Each team brought fresh perspectives and a strong commitment to making a difference.

Celebrating the winners

After two days of brainstorming, prototyping, and pitching, the top three teams were announced:

• First place went to a team from Tallinn Health Care College, Estonia, who proposed an innovative solution to hospital waste management. They were awarded Apollo gift cards and will receive mentorship from Tehnopol to receive further guidance.
• Second place was claimed by a Finnish team that worked on making complex AI-based planning systems user-friendly for non-tech-savvy users. They were rewarded with Finnkino cinema vouchers.
• Third place went to a Dutch team who addressed the same challenge with an equally impressive approach. Their efforts earned them Yesty gift vouchers.

The winners were selected by a jury of international experts:

• Kätlin-Carolin Noormägi, Community manager at Tehnopol Startup Incubator (Estonia)
• Jeroen Bos, navigator at Bossers & Cnossen (Netherlands)
• Ivan Porro, CEO of SurgiQ (Italy)
• Venla Elovaara, CEO of Studisco (Finland)
• Maksim Kunevich, anaesthesiologist at Ida-Viru Central Hospital (Estonia)

Technically complex, seamlessly delivered

The seamless technical execution of such a complex international event was made possible by Pixtech, the expert team behind the scenes. From a technical perspective, the hackathon was a fascinating challenge: nearly 200 participants from four countries were connected in real time through a virtual platform and formed into 27 teams, each able to collaborate from their homes, offices, or classrooms. All live sessions, including the moderator’s segments and key announcements, were broadcast from Tehnopol’s studio, while teams also had access to 1:1 mentoring sessions throughout the event. Pixtech ensured not only the smooth running of these interactions but also invested in the technical onboarding of all participants, guaranteeing that each team’s pitch would run flawlessly and within the allotted time.”

This level of execution demonstrates what’s possible when strong planning, reliable infrastructure, and experienced organisers come together.

Participants enjoyed learning by doing

The event wasn’t just about competition—it was about growth for the students. Feedback from participants across countries highlighted the value of:

• Collaborative teamwork
• User validation and mentor guidance
• Exposure to international peers and different working styles

Words like interdisciplinarity, creativity, exchange of ideas, and teamwork emerged repeatedly in reflections. Participants appreciated the structure of the event and the clarity that came from feedback sessions. Some participants praised the structure and clarity of team solutions.

Empowering the next generation of health innovators

Behind the scenes, the true driving force of the hackathon was Loora Salurand, Project Manager from the Tehnopol HealthTech team. After being given the lead organiser role, Loora brought together a complex, multinational event with remarkable precision. Coordinating dozens of partners, challenges, mentors, and students across countries and time zones was no small feat—but thanks to her dedication, problem-solving mindset, and attention to detail, the hackathon ran seamlessly from start to finish.

Special thanks goes also to the other organising partners and institutions that made the event possible, including Tallinn Health Care College, Bossers & Cnossen, Katapult, Network Zon, Noorderpoort, TAI, Turku City Data, ASL/CN2, APRO, T4Med, DCTerra, Ida-Viru Hospital, Kood, Studisco, and My Own Interactions. The success of this hackathon would not have been possible without the country captains who guided participants every step of the way: Moonika Terno from Estonia, Irene Miretti from Italy, Rachel Kok from the Netherlands and Reino Tissari from Finland.

Want to run a similar hackathon?

At Tehnopol, we’ve proven our ability to deliver complex, international online hackathons that create real impact. Whether you’re a public organisation, university, or company with a problem to solve, we can help design, host, and execute your event – from concept to completion.

We offer:

• Studio facilities
• Reliable and experiences technical partners
• Mentorship networks
• Event management experience

Get in touch at events@tehnopol.ee to start planning your own hackathon.