MAD for Localization.
HACKATHON
Build the next useful localization prototype in 48 hours. A practical online hackathon where localization professionals define real-world problems, and builders turn them into working prototypes.
What happens
3 Days of Creation
- Challenges announced
- Watch the conference broadcast live
- Start building
- Build your prototype
- Use any AI-assisted development tool
- Connect with professionals on Slack
- Submission deadline
- One link or file per team
- Optional 2-min pitch
The Rules of the Localization Hackathon
- All code and prototypes must be built during the 48-hour window (June 24, 15:30 – June 26, 15:30 Paris time)
- Teams can pick 1 of the 4 announced challenges
- Open source libraries and AI coding tools are encouraged and expected
- Any AI-assisted development tool is allowed.
- Final submissions are published publicly for community review here
- Optional: 2-minute pitch slot on Day 3 for prize judging (all team members welcome)
Challenges of the Hackathon
“Mind the Context” (Quality Pipeline)
Context-aware translation remains a largely unsolved problem in our industry, and one that becomes increasingly important as more content is translated with AI. In this challenge, build an app that validates the translation in-context, on top of it being linguistically accurate. Pick your definition of context: developer notes, UI screenshots and HTML, dialogue characters and their personality descriptions, a video with frames taken every 2 seconds, images of products in an e-commerce catalog, PDF blueprints with formulas, or even an audio stream.
You can think of the quality pipeline as a quick and low-latency step that happens before translations go live, or as a post-publishing corrective process.
“Find the Right Model” (Evaluation tool)
In a world where new models become available every two weeks, some companies have opted to use all of them for their workflows. Different languages, tasks and content types require optimal models for characteristics like cost, latency, expected quality. Selecting new models has become so routine that it needs to be automated. Build a “Translation provider selection engine” that helps select the best MT provider. Requirements:
- Flexible: various business rules can be applied for decision-making
- Automated: humans should only be involved when required
- Explainable: decisions are motivated
Suggested by Nicolas Jadot, Trendyol
“Are We Fit for This Market” (Website reviewer)
Build an app that reviews and scores multilingual websites for linguistic quality, terminology consistency, cultural adaptation and other criteria. It would ingest HTML web pages, look at them holistically and generate a report or dashboard that helps content groups determine what to improve.
Advanced:
- Allow for the sync between the strings parsed from the website directly and strings residing in the translation memory, so that the app may find the exact position of the text within the TMX and fix it.
- Allow human review for proposed changes and an approval process
Suggested by Hyunjoo Han, Autodesk
“Localization Manager’s Dream” (Capacity planner)
A localization team is called upon to support multiple requests from various teams. Some are classic requirements such as file translation; others are more complex engineering jobs and involve checks across various tools, alignment between team members, or putting in place an entirely new workflow. The ask: build a planner/ticketing system tailored for localization and operating via a Slack bot that may support both the loc team and the stakeholders, including the requesters and the management.
Requirements:
- Flexible: can support an increasing number of use cases/request types automatically
- Human in the loop: knows when to loop in a team member
- Ease of use: stakeholders can interact with it directly and get useful answers
Suggested by Giulia Tarditi, Revolut
Who's Building
Create beautiful, intuitive localization tool UX with practical wireframes and user experiences
Translate real-world pain points into actionable technical requirements and workflow insights
Build functional prototypes using modern frameworks, APIs, and AI integration techniques
Experiment with LLM APIs, prompt engineering, and innovative automation for localization tasks
Registered Teams & Individuals
Be the First one to register to the Localization Hackathon
Build with Guidance
This isn’t just a code sprint — you’ll have access to experienced senior developers for mentorship, technical guidance, and best-practice recommendations throughout the build process.
- Access to technical mentorship channels
- Live Q&A sessions with localization experts
- Showcase opportunities and networking
- $1,000 Awarded to the best submission
Register Interest
We’ll match you with a team before the event starts.
It’s a perfect opportunity to network and build together.