International Hackathon 2025 Concludes

International Hackathon 2025 Concludes with Groundbreaking Solutions, Announcing Winners Team CyberChain and Team DeepGov!

Paro, Bhutan – June 28, 2025 – The three-day international hackathon, “Developing Decentralised Applications powered by Bhutan’s National Digital Identity (NDI),” triumphantly concluded yesterday, June 27th, at the historic Dungkar Dzong, Pangbisa, Paro. Organized by the GovTech Agency with vital support from the Ethereum Foundation, the event brought together brilliant minds from across the globe and Bhutan to innovate at the forefront of digital identity.

Celebrating Our Champions: Innovation Unleashed

The hackathon culminated in the recognition of two exceptional teams who demonstrated unparalleled creativity and technical prowess in leveraging Bhutan's National Digital Identity:

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First Place: Team CyberChain (Bhutan)

Our heartfelt congratulations go to the local Bhutanese group, Team CyberChain, composed of recent graduates from Gyelpozhing College of Information and Technology (GCIT): Tshering Dorji, Drukden Wangchuk Dorji, Jigme Namgyal, Tandin Dorji, and Tashi Wangdi.

Their winning project, ZorigHub, is a digital platform designed to connect local Bhutanese artisans with authentic buyers, fostering trust through authenticity and transparency. ZorigHub features blockchain-powered provenance tracking to combat counterfeiting and ensure product integrity, allowing artisans to earn equitably. Bhutan’s NDI is leveraged to verify artisans, with robust on-chain records for product receipts enhancing security and transparency.

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First Place: Team DeepGov (International)

Sharing the top honors is the international contingent, Team DeepGov, featuring members from diverse backgrounds: David Dao (Germany), Sharfina Adamantine (Indonesia), Carl Barrdahl (Sweden), and Satyam Mishra (India).

Team DeepGov presented an NDI-verified, AI-assisted civil governance system aimed at broad listening to citizens. Their innovative application seeks to make surveys easier and more effective, facilitating a deeper understanding of public concerns and consensus areas on various topics, including technology and education.

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Both winning teams were each awarded USD 3,000 (equivalent to Nu 250,000), generously sponsored by the Ethereum Foundation, along with an exclusive glamping experience sponsored by GovTech.

Recognizing Excellence: Runners-Up and All Participants

The innovation didn't stop there. Two runner-up teams also received significant recognition:

• Team NGN impressed judges with LandChain, a project designed to streamline land transfers using Bhutan NDI for secure and scalable processes, easing the work of land officers.

• Team Form BT, comprising lecturers from the College of Science and Technology and Gedu College of Business Studies, developed an AI-powered Optical Character Recognition (OCR) solution to rapidly digitize paper forms, enhancing security with citizen ID verification and blockchain fingerprinting.

Teams NGN and Form BT each secured Nu 210,000, also sponsored by the Ethereum Foundation.

Fostering Innovation and Global Collaboration

The hackathon's objectives extended far beyond mere competition. It aimed to foster innovation in the digital identity field, attract international participants, and advance Bhutan’s standing in the global digital identity space.

Thirteen teams, including ten Bhutanese and three international teams with diverse backgrounds in decentralized identity, blockchain, and related technologies, participated in the event. A total of 70 participants engaged in this hands-on learning platform, guided by a group of seven expert mentors, including four international and three national mentors with extensive industry experience. The event also sought to establish a global decentralized community and propel Bhutan’s position in the decentralized identity space by testing new innovations utilizing NDI.

The Road Ahead: Open-Sourcing and Incubation

In a move to further contribute to the global open-source community, all hackathon projects will be made public via a GitHub repository hosted by GovTech Bhutan or a collaborating open-source community. Selected solutions may be open-sourced under permissive licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0), incubated under GovTech’s digital innovation programs, and potentially showcased globally through strategic partnerships within the digital ID and blockchain communities.

The GovTech Agency extends its deepest gratitude to all participants, mentors, judges, the Ethereum Foundation, and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment for making this International Hackathon a resounding success and a significant milestone in Bhutan’s digital transformation journey.