Held from June 9 to 11, 2026, the initiative saw 15 students take part, representing 4 teams from various academic disciplines and programs.

The hackathon was one of the leading initiatives in the UAE and the Arab World as it altered the participants' role from recipients of educational policies to contributors in developing them, through an applied experience that simulated the real decision-making environment, and addressed several challenges related to education and the rapid transformations that the world is witnessing.

The hackathon served as a collaborative platform uniting academic institutions and public policy experts. It engaged students, faculty, and specialists to create educational solutions and policies that address current and future challenges, aiming to develop more flexible, efficient, and sustainable educational systems.

Professor Mahra Hilal Al Mutaiwei, Director of the RCEP, confirmed that the initiative achieved its goals of developing students’ abilities in designing and analyzing educational policies and introducing them to the real stages of evidence-based policymaking.

She said: “The hackathon’s goal was not just to produce ideas or recommendations, but to build quality capabilities among students and enable them to acquire skills in analyzing educational problems, studying data and indicators, designing policy alternatives, and evaluating their impact and feasibility. We believe that the real investment lies in preparing a new generation that possesses the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in developing education and decision-making.”

The hackathon addressed several priority educational issues, including regulating the use of generative artificial intelligence in education, redesigning assessment systems, developing competency-based teacher licensing models, and building educational environments that support innovation and creativity.

Four prototypes of innovative educational policies emerged from the hackathon, addressing priority issues in education. The prototypes were assessed by a judging panel according to several criteria that included the quality of the problem analysis, the effectiveness of the proposed solutions, the expected impact, economic efficiency, feasibility and sustainability.

The success of the first edition of the Educational Policy Hackathon highlighted the significance of engaging the youth in making educational policies, and enabling them to help shape the future of education, thereby enhancing the UAE’s status as a global hub for innovation and future-making.