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Teams from across the globe will be invited to join forces and imagine and build solutions that will further six Global Citizen campaigns, including: No Poverty, Food and Hunger, Health, Education, Gender Equality, and Clean Water and Sanitation.

Encapsulating the spirit of Cannes Lions

Ascential Events CEO and chairman-elect of Cannes Lions Philip Thomas, commented, “Launching an initiative like this is exciting on many levels. It perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Festival – bringing together creative experts from across our industry to innovate as a positive force for good – that’s the kind of creative magic that happens at Cannes Lions. We can’t wait to develop this with Amazon, Huge and Global Citizen.”

Cross-disciplinary teams with strong creative, strategy and technology representation are encouraged to apply to participate in the Hackathon, and contestants from all agencies, brands and regions are welcome. As an investment in the future of the festival and in the next generation of leaders, each team should include at least one member under 30 in the five-person team.

“The culture of Huge is built around enabling positive change through innovation, and we are excited to bring our proven Hackathon framework to Cannes Lions and apply our expertise, along with the talents of some of the world’s most creative teams, to advance global social good using Amazon’s powerful technologies. We are humbled by the opportunity to work with Global Citizen on their life-changing global agenda,” commented Michael Koziol, global CEO of Huge.

Of the applications received, seven teams will be chosen to compete in the first-of-its-kind Hack, with the winners announced on the Interactive Stage inside Lions Innovation (Palais II) on Wednesday, 20 June at 15:30.

Creating empathy and change with technology

Teams selected to participate in the Hackathon will benefit from:

• A complete Festival pass to enjoy all that the Festival has to offer;
• Hands-on mentorship from some of the world’s most prominent industry leaders and change influencers;
• Real-time expertise in creative, UX design and product development from Huge;
• On-the-ground solution architects from Amazon Web Services and Amazon Alexa will be available to make ideas a reality;
• The opportunity to work on a cause with Global Citizen; 
• The winning team will have the opportunity to work with Global Citizen, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Alexa and Huge to launch and promote their solution.

The winning team will be selected by an esteemed judging panel on the Lions Innovation Stage.

"We're deeply involved with technical transformation and innovation at Global Citizen so it is a wonderful privilege to be working with the Cannes Lions, Huge and Amazon teams on a hackathon that help further our goals and create a positive impact on the world,” said Mark Lehmann, chief technology officer of Global Citizen. “The sky is the limit in creating empathy and change with technology!"

The full list of selected teams and the judging panel will be determined and notified on 29 May. Any team wishing to apply can do so here.