Overview
Microsoft and EY are proud to launch the second edition of Innovate for Inclusion, the virtual hackathon on accessibility and AI in telecom: “The Inclusive Frontier: AI agents that work for every telecom customer”. As AI agents become the telco’s front door for sales, service and support, this edition asks how to make them accessible, transparent and fair by design.
The tracks are aligned with two European regulations: the European Accessibility Act (EAA), in application since 28 June 2025, and the EU AI Act, whose transparency obligations have applied since 2 August 2026.
Themes and Objectives
The hackathon will revolve around five key themes, each championed by a different telecom partner. These themes are designed to align with the principles of the European Union Accessibility Act (EAA), ensuring a broad and inclusive approach to accessibility and AI:
- Journeys that adapt: An agent that notices when a customer struggles in a digital journey and offers to adapt the interface on the spot (larger targets, simpler steps, read-aloud, fewer choices). The customer stays in control.
- Every voice heard: Voice agents and IVR systems that understand atypical speech (stammers, slow speech, dysarthria, post-stroke speech) and hand over gracefully to a person. Stretch scenario: accessible emergency call with real-time text or total conversation.
- Plain talk: An agent that turns tariffs, contract terms and bills into plain language, spoken summaries or visual cues, and acts on the customer’s behalf without changing the legal meaning.
- Fair decisions: Test suites, transparency wrappers and guardrails for the AI that scores credit, approves device financing, runs collections or targets retention offers, so it never penalizes disability-related signals and can prove it.
- Home, in your hands: An agent between the customer and the home equipment (router, Wi-Fi, set-top box, TV and streaming apps), usable through voice, gaze, gesture or simple prompts, with captions and audio description built in.
Participation and Timeline
The hackathon is open to a diverse group of participants, including startups, universities, telecom employees, and other innovators. The event will be conducted online, providing a flexible and inclusive environment for all participants.
- Call for Ideas starting on December 3, 2026
- Hackathon Period: December 3 to January 15, 2027
- Evaluation Phase: Jan 18 - Jan 29, 2027
- Winner Announcement: live event during the Mobile World Congress 2027 (march 2027)
How to Participate
Interested in participating, sponsoring or supporting the hackathon? Register here and we'll keep you posted!
General Rules
- Be at least 18 years old
- Declare acceptance of the Rules;
- Declare acceptance of the Microsoft and Improove Privacy Policy; more details can be found within the Rules;
- Participants will retain ownership of their intellectual property rights for any ideas, concepts, or solutions developed during the hackathon.
- Each team participating in the hackathon may consist of a maximum of 5 members.
- Participation is free.
External Resources
Bootstrap Italia
An accessible UI component library for web applications. It is a fork of Bootstrap managed by the AgID team.
Accessibility Guidelines
Be sure to pay special attention to accessibility guidelines when working on your projects, as they are essential to ensuring that your solutions are usable by a wide range of people, including those with disabilities.
Online Tutorials for Implementing Accessible Web UI
To help you integrate and deepen your technical knowledge of accessibility, we recommend the online tutorial available on w3schools.com.
Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit
Whether you are a program manager, engineer, data scientist, designer, or anyone contributing to creating products and services, Inclusive Design is a practice you can follow.
Microsoft Fluent 2
Explore the evolution of Microsoft's design system, enabling more seamless collaboration and creativity than ever. Move fluidly from design to development, between apps, and across platforms.
What is an online hackathon?
An online hackathon is a technical and creative event that presents a challenge for participants. By joining teams, they will develop project ideas, sharing their creativity, skills, and expertise to address the specified needs.
Who is the hackathon for?
The hackathon is open to developers, designers, creatives, data scientists, startup founders, digital marketing and communication experts, students, and, more generally, anyone interested in the topics covered by the challenge.
Do I need to register to participate in the online hackathon?
Absolutely yes, it is required. Participation is completely free, and we encourage you to carefully read the rules.
Do I need to participate with a pre-formed team?
It's up to you. Pre-formed teams are welcome, but you can also use the Improove platform to propose your idea to the community and find other people to collaborate with on a project. The event is designed to encourage teamwork, networking, and social interaction.
How do I build my team?
Once you have drafted your project proposal, you can invite your friends to join your team using the "Invite" function available on the project management page.
The Call for Projects opens on 03 Dec 2026 at 00:00