22 Teams from Six Countries Selected for the Drone Innovation Hackathon in Tampere

A total of 22 teams from six countries have been selected to solve the four competition challenges of the Drone Innovation Hackathon, taking place on 21–23 January 2026. Altogether, around 60 drone technology professionals will participate in the teams working on the challenges.

The organising team received 43 applications, from which the strongest candidates were selected. The three-day hackathon will be held at Nokia Arena in Tampere from 21 to 23 January 2026.

Attractive Prizes at the Hackathon

The total prize pool amounts to €15,000, to be shared among the winners of the challenges. In addition, successful teams may be selected for the 17Tech accelerator programme (17tech.fi) and receive up to €40,000 in development funding. The opportunity includes expert support for drone development in Ukraine and collaboration with leading actors in the field.

Hackathon Challenges

The Future of Nokia Arena
Nokia Arena’s state-of-the-art technological capabilities are utilised as a neutral testbed. The initiative offers a drone testing service where external companies can trial and validate innovative technologies, products and services related to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Nokia Arena acts as the technology platform and facility provider, while the testing services are operated by a team specialised in drone testing.

The Invisible Intruder
Drone solutions that challenge advanced counter-drone systems by demonstrating stealth and evasion capabilities. Teams explore how drones can avoid detection or bypass counter-drone zones using methods such as signal interference or sensor deception. Solutions will be tested live at Nokia Arena.

5G-Driven Drone Innovation
Teams fly their drones through an obstacle course without direct visual line of sight. FPV video and drone control are operated via 4G/5G connectivity. Solutions will be tested live at Nokia Arena.

Low Signature Drone Design
A drone is flown from one end of the arena to the other as quietly as possible, aiming to approach the Elisa Defence Node base station without being detected. Solutions will be tested live at Nokia Arena.

Collaboration Opens New Opportunities

The hackathon offers participants a unique opportunity to contribute to shaping the future of drone innovation in Finland.

The Drone Innovation Hackathon is organised at Nokia Arena by Business Tampere and Ultrahack, in close collaboration with Elisa, Crown Defence, Nokia, Unikie, Digital Defence Ecosystem, Patria, Tampere Universities (TUNI), Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), City of Tampere, 17Tech, Innoavia, Loopshore, Missing-Link, Kepit, CitCom, ProDroneParts.com, Pirkanmaa Regional Council, Tampere Chamber of Commerce, and Location Innovation Hub.

Media Opportunities to Follow the Event

Pre-registered media representatives will have the opportunity to follow and photograph the teams’ work at Nokia Arena on Thursday, 22 January, during the following time slots:
10:00–12:30 and 13:30–15:00.

On Friday, 23 January 2026 at 14:00, a media briefing and the hackathon award ceremony will be held at Platform 6, located at Åkerlundinkatu 8, 33100 Tampere. The media event will be hosted by Tero Kyckling from Business Tampere (contact details below).

For security reasons, media representatives are kindly requested to confirm their attendance for 22 January and/or 23 January by Monday, 19 January 2026 at 12:00 using the registration form available via the link below. Detailed instructions will be provided after registration:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMyRPRBoY-3DXxvWt-IT2OUYeX78OSVddLrgSZehPKtekxPA/viewform?usp=header

A strong group of industry experts will participate in the event in various roles, including representatives from companies and the Finnish Defence Forces. Among the speakers present on Friday are Member of Parliament Jarno Limnell, a key contributor to Finland’s national drone strategy and Professor of Practice in Cybersecurity at Aalto University, as well as Mykhailo Vydoinyk, Ambassador of Ukraine to Finland.

Contacts

For questions related to hackathon arrangements at the event, please contact Ultrahack:
juhani.kivikangas@ultrahack.org, tel. +358 40 556 1228

For media enquiries related to drone development and collaboration in the Tampere urban region, please contact:
tero.kyckling@businesstampere.com, tel. +358 40 552 4355