School photoPhoto to be added
Canada
Mount Pearl Senior High School
Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador
The second hackathon
CZITT-UNICEF AI Energy and Climate Hackathon II
Canada and Trinidad & Tobago
Launch: 29 October 2026Hackathon: 26 November 2026
Climate change knows no international boundaries; neither should its solutions. This hackathon links secondary school students in Canada and Trinidad and Tobago through their schools’ real electricity and weather data, AI tools and one shared climate challenge. It connects students and youth, communities, utilities, sponsors and governments, creates a cultural exchange, and turns transnational climate awareness into practical action in schools.
Led by the Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, CZITT, in partnership with UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area, and supported by the High Commission of Canada.
Online launch
Thursday 29 October 2026.
The hackathon opens with a public online launch chaired by Donald Baldeosingh, Founder and Chairman of CZITT, with greetings from UNICEF, the University of Trinidad and Tobago, and the governments of both countries.
- WhenThursday 29 October 2026, 8:30 a.m. Trinidad and Tobago, 10:00 a.m. Newfoundland and Labrador
- WhereOnline, streamed on the CZITT YouTube channel
- SpeakersJoin by Zoom using the details sent to you by CZITT
- Supported byThe High Commission of Canada
Programme
- Welcome, and the hackathon’s vision, objectives and rollout. Mr Donald Baldeosingh, Founder and Chairman, CZITT.
- Greetings. Ms Maryam Abdu, Representative (a.i.), UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area. Professor Rean Maharaj, President (Ag.), The University of Trinidad and Tobago. The Honourable Tom Osborne, Member of Parliament for Cape Spear, Mount Pearl and Paradise. Dr The Honourable Michael Dowlath, Minister of Education, Trinidad and Tobago.
- Opportunities for collaboration. His Excellency Michael Callan, High Commissioner of Canada.
- Remarks from sponsors.
- Closing remarks. His Excellency Justice Anthony Carmona, SC ORTT, Fifth President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Patron of CZITT.
Rollout
Train first, then build.
As in the first hackathon, the competition is the end of the programme and not the whole of it. Students are taught before they are asked to build anything.
- 01
Launch, 29 October
The online launch with students, schools, sponsors and both governments.
- 02
Training, 3 to 19 November
Mentorship sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays: AI tools, energy and climate concepts, data skills, teamwork and leadership.
- 03
Build
Teams analyse their own school’s electricity consumption, utility billing and weather data, then build an AI supported model and a practical plan to cut carbon.
- 04
Hackathon, 26 November
Every team presents its work to a judging panel and shares what it learned across Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.
Who takes part
Fifteen schools, two countries.
Mount Pearl Senior High School and O’Donel High School, both in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, join thirteen schools across Trinidad and Tobago. This is the first time the hackathon runs across two countries, with the support of members of parliament in both.
The first hackathon, in June 2026, brought 48 students from eight Trinidad and Tobago schools through a 15 session training programme and into a live competition at UTT Point Lisas. The second builds on it with more schools, two of them Canadian, climate and weather data alongside electricity data, and more partners.
School photoPhoto to be added
Canada
O’Donel High School
Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador
School photoPhoto to be added
Trinidad and Tobago
Thirteen schools
From Port of Spain and Arima to Couva, Chaguanas, San Fernando and Tobago
School photoPhoto to be added
Trinidad and Tobago
Back for a second year
Several of the schools took part in the first hackathon in June 2026
Taking part in Trinidad and Tobago
- Woodbrook Secondary School
- Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School
- Holy Name Convent, Port of Spain
- ASJA Boys’ College, Charlieville
- Couva East Secondary School
- Holy Faith Convent, Couva
- ASJA Girls’ College, San Fernando
- Arima North Secondary School
- Hillview College
- Bishop’s High School, Tobago
- Saraswati Girls’ Hindu College
- Presentation College, Chaguanas
- ASJA Girls’ College, Tunapuna
Taking part in Canada
- Mount Pearl Senior High School, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador
- O’Donel High School, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador
A first in the world
Real school data, moved on an open standard.
The hackathon is intended to be the first practical implementation anywhere of an emerging open customer data specification from LF Energy, the energy project of the Linux Foundation, written by its Customer Data Working Group under the Connected Data Specifications programme.
The specification gives electricity consumption, utility billing and weather information one common shape, so it can move securely between systems and be read by AI tools without being reshaped by hand for every school. Trinidad and Tobago and Canada both take part on the same terms, and the hackathon will produce real evidence on how well the specification works in practice. The specification was approved for future use by the Green Button Alliance in October 2026.
Students see the point of this directly: a standard is what lets a team in Mount Pearl and a team in San Fernando compare their schools without arguing about file formats first.
In LF Energy’s own words[ Blurb from LF Energy to go here. ]
What the data covers
- School electricity consumption
- Utility billing information
- Historical and current weather
- Carbon and sustainability measures
Local control stays local.Data access, privacy, consent and public interest governance stay with the jurisdiction. Schools and their communities keep control of their own information.
Why it matters
Four outcomes, one programme.
Youth, AI and digital skills
Secondary school students get hands on experience with responsible AI, data analysis, teamwork, leadership and communication.
Energy and climate literacy
Students learn to read electricity use and a utility bill, and to see how weather patterns, energy management and climate impacts connect.
Technology in the open
The Caribbean UEnergyHub and the AI Foundry provide the data and collaboration environment, a sovereignty first model that keeps control local.
Canada and Caribbean collaboration
Direct links between schools, educators, technology specialists and institutions in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Trinidad and Tobago, and a genuine cultural exchange.
The Hackathon is an excellent example of what can be achieved when institutions work together to empower our youth and address national priorities.
Professor Rean MaharajActing President, The University of Trinidad and Tobago
In partnership with
Proudly sponsored by
Special thanks
The people making it possible.
UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area. High Commission of Canada. Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission. The University of Trinidad and Tobago. Screaming Power. Smart Grid Innovation Network. Southern Caribbean Cable Company. Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited. BMSna.