From Signals to Population Intelligence

A hackathon launch that kicks off a focused 4-month build sprint — delivering working population intelligence tools integrated into country workflows.

3
Tracks
4
Month Sprint
6
Partners
📅 Official launch — World Data Festival · Nairobi, 3 June 2026
Register for a Track → Explore Tracks
UNFPA WHO AFRO Google / PDI WorldPop Esri IDinsight
01 · The Problem

The data that could save lives already exists. It is just not connected into decisions.

The gap is not data. The gap is integration, validation, and usability.

01

Data Lag

Key indicators arrive too late for fast-moving risks. Population maps are years old. Mortality data lags 18 months. GBV baselines reflect the last survey.

02

Fusion Gap

Signals exist across EIOS, DIOS, WorldPop, Earth Observation, and PDI but are not operationally combined into a single decision layer that planners can use.

03

Validation Gap

Country teams cannot verify or act on AI outputs. Signals arrive at too coarse a scale and without a structured review mechanism.

02 · The Concept

What is PopIntel Hack?

A session that aligns teams and launches a focused 4-month build sprint — delivering small, working population intelligence tools integrated into PDP+ and country workflows.

🎯

The Session

Align teams, define builds, assign roles. Live demos of EIOS and DIOS. Everyone leaves with a task and a team.

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🛠

The Sprint

Four months. Three tracks. Validated outputs against real country data. Small, working systems — not concepts.

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📦

The Output

Three connected tools integrated into PDP+ and country workflows. Each track produces something immediately usable.

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🔗

The Connection

Tracks are not independent. DIOS signals feed Tracks 1 and 2. PDI enriches both. All converge in PDP+ as one decision layer.

03 · Three Tracks, One System

Each track builds something usable. All outputs connect through PDP+.

Choose the track that matches your expertise and interest. Every track delivers a working tool within four months.

Track 01 · Climate Pulse

Climate-Demography & Resilience

Led by Derrick / Esri
“A drought starts six weeks before anyone moves. We need the alert six weeks earlier — not a report six months later.”
  • Climate Risk Layer — EO datasets standardised into Admin-2 grid
  • Population Exposure Engine — WorldPop age-sex overlay
  • DIOS Early Signal Layer — 2–4 week displacement warning
  • Esri Operational Dashboard — ArcGIS Experience Builder
4-Month Deliverable: Climate-Demographic Risk Score at Admin-2, Esri dashboard deployed, Country pilot active, Code open-sourced
Track 02 · Safe Futures

SRHR, Maternal Health & GBV Prevention

Led by Google/PDI · WorldPop
“A girl at risk of FGM is also at risk of child marriage and obstetric death from a facility she can no longer reach. These are not separate problems.”
  • Service Gap Layer — Facility coverage vs. population catchment
  • Vulnerable Population Layer — Women, adolescents, reproductive-age groups
  • Harmful Practices Detection — DIOS + PDI embeddings
  • Composite SRHR/GBV Risk Score — Unified risk index
  • Esri Integrated Dashboard — Actionable zones in PDP+
4-Month Deliverable: Unified SRHR & GBV Risk Layer in PDP+, PDI embeddings integrated, Countries validate small area estimates, Code open-sourced
Track 03 · Trust Layer

DIOS Population Intelligence & Validation

Led by WHO · UNFPA
“Country offices receive AI signals they cannot verify at a scale too broad to act on. This track builds the trust layer that makes DIOS country-owned.”
  • Signal Localisation Engine — Admin-2/3 geocoding + spatial clustering
  • Multi-Signal Overlap Engine — Priority Action Zone identification
  • Country Validation Portal — Confirm / Reject / Annotate interface
  • Feedback Loop — Country annotations improve DIOS models
4-Month Deliverable: DIOS at Admin-3/4, Priority Action Zones active, Validation Portal live, Feedback loop operational, Code open-sourced
04 · Partners

Each partner owns a defined part of the intelligence chain.

Six organisations. One system from signals to validated action.

UNFPA

UNFPA

System Owner · PDP+ · Country Linkage

Leads programme design, owns PDP+ deployment, manages country pilot relationships and validation workflows.

Access Platform ↗
WHO AFRO

WHO AFRO

EIOS · Epidemic & Demographic Intelligence

Provides the EIOS real-time signal feed. Co-leads Track 3 DIOS expansion and country validation approach.

Access Platform ↗
WorldPop

WorldPop

Population Modelling · Exposure Estimates

100m gridded population surfaces. Age-sex stratification. Denominates all risk layers and validates spatial accuracy.

Access Platform ↗
Google / PDI

Google / PDI

Contextual Embeddings · Behaviour Patterns

330 directional PDI location embeddings explaining how communities relate to services, movement, and risk.

Access Platform ↗
Esri
Mapping Analytics Interactive Visualization Spatial Intelligence

Esri

Visualisation · Operational Deployment

ArcGIS Online, Living Atlas, Experience Builder, Instant Apps, and Configurable Maps and Apps. Delivers outputs to district planners in existing government environments.

Access Platform ↗
IDinsight

IDinsight

Analytics · Validation · AI Integrity

Independent model validation, bias auditing, country analytics support, and AI fairness review across all three tracks.

Access Platform ↗
05 · Mentors

Meet the mentors guiding each track.

Wenlan Zhang

Wenlan Zhang

PhD Researcher, Geospatial & Population Data Science (CASA, UCL)
University College London
Kennedy Kamande Wangari

Kennedy Kamande Wangari

AI Researcher | Climate & Tech Policy Strategist
DPGSK
Adnan Yasin

Adnan Yasin

Ambassador
Next Einstein Forum
Mahadia Tunga

Mahadia Tunga

Co-founder & Executive Director
Tanzania Data Lab (dLab), University of Dar es Salaam
Kay Kim

Kay Kim

Advisor
GIZ GmbH
Mary Angela Adhiambo

Mary Angela Adhiambo

Programs Lead
ICON Data and Learning Labs
Henry Kyalo

Henry Kyalo

Data Scientist | AI Researcher
Kenya Red Cross Society
SN

Samuel Nzaramba

Data Scientist
WDL
Lydia Troup

Lydia Troup

Solutions Engineer
Esri
Peter Kipkosgei

Peter Kipkosgei

Geospatial & Environmental Specialist
State Department of TVET / Africa Nazarene University
06 · Sprint Structure

Register. Learn. Pitch. Build. Present. Win.

Five phases from June to end of October 2026 — from open registration to winners announced.

Jun 3 – Jun 30

Registration

  • Sign up and select your track
  • Review datasets, tools and partner platforms
  • Join or form a project team
Jul 1 – Jul 28

Capacity Building

  • One deep-dive session per week
  • Data access, tool setup, methodology walkthroughs
  • Hosted by track mentors and partners
Jul 29 – Aug 4

Pitch Week

  • Teams present project proposals to mentors
  • Scope alignment and feedback
  • Final project plans confirmed
Aug 5 – Oct 5

Build Sprint

  • 8 weeks of active prototyping
  • Weekly mentor check-ins per track
  • Iterate against real country data
Oct 6 – Oct 12

Restitution

  • Live demos with country counterparts
  • Jury evaluation and scoring
  • Open-source code submission
by Oct 31

Winners Announced

  • Final judging and recognition
  • Top teams celebrated across all three tracks
  • Code published on GitHub
Sprint Calendar — June to October 2026
Phase
Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
📅
Registration
Jun 3 – Jun 30
CB
Capacity Building
Jul 1 – Jul 28 · 4 sessions
🎤
Pitch Week
Jul 29 – Aug 4
⚙
Build Sprint
Aug 5 – Oct 5
Aug → Oct
✓
Restitution Week
Oct 6 – Oct 12
🏆
Winners Announced
by Oct 31
🏆
07 · Launch Resources

Couldn’t make it to the launch? Start here.

All presentations and partner sessions from the World Data Festival launch — covering available datasets, tools, and models for the sprint.

📄

Launch Presentation Deck

The full slide deck from the PopIntel Hack launch covering all three tracks, partner contributions, datasets, and tools available for the sprint.

⬇  Download PDF
Open full screen ↗
🎥

Partner Presentation Videos

Recorded presentations from two partners who could not attend in person — covering the Population Data Portal and Google’s Population Dynamics model.

UNFPA

Population Data Portal (PDP+)

Introduction to the Population Data Portal, the datasets available through it, and how to access them during the sprint.

⬇  Download video
Google / PDI

Population Dynamics Foundational Model

Overview of Google’s Population Dynamics Insights (PDI) embeddings, capabilities, and integration pathways for the sprint.

⬇  Download video

Register for a Track

Join the PopIntel Hack sprint. Select your track and commit to building population intelligence tools that matter.