Building A Digital Tibet To Empower The Diaspora
On March 22–23, the e-Tibet Hackathon, powered by Draper Nation, launched a bold 24-hour sprint to build the digital foundation for a global Tibetan identity.
Participants tackled the challenge of uniting the Tibetan diaspora through open-source tools for citizenship, governance, education, healthcare, and more.
🤝 Powered by Partnership
The hackathon was co-sponsored by Nishith Desai Associates, Asia’s most innovative law firm. With global offices and expertise across blockchain, AI, med-tech, and emerging technologies, NDA provided invaluable legal insight to help teams navigate governance, identity, and regulatory design.
Their commitment to open innovation—and their world-renowned research campus—made them a perfect partner for this mission.
🎯 Innovation Tracks
Builders explored five mission-critical tracks to reimagine governance for a digital Tibet:
🪪 Citizenship Digital identity, proof-of-personhood, passports, and decentralized reputation systems.
🏛️ Governance Open-source voting platforms and digital tools for transparent public administration.
🩺 Benefits & Services Access to healthcare, education, employment, and pension systems.
💸 Finance Digital currency prototypes, taxation frameworks, and sovereign wealth management tools.
📜 Cultural Heritage Preservation AI-powered archives, digital storytelling, and platforms to protect and share Tibetan history and identity.
Teams submissions took place at 9AM on 23 March. During the first round of judging, each team had 10 minutes to pitch their product. Judges scored and shortlisted the top 5 teams for the final round, in which teams presented on stage to an audience that included VCs.
View (and fork) the team's code here at Draper Nation's Open-Source governance repository.
🎓 Learn from the Best: Interactive Sessions & Mentorship
Draper Nation hackathons aren’t just about shipping code—they’re fun, high-energy events packed with interactive activities designed to sharpen your product delivery, thinking, and technical skills.
Participants walk away not only with a prototype, but with new frameworks, tools, and mindsets to build better, faster, and smarter.
🔥 Featured Lightning Talks & Workshops
💡 “How to Think About an Idea for Building a Startup or Solving a Problem” by Vikram Bharati Learn how to break down big problems, validate ideas quickly, and turn insights into action.
🤖 “Leveraging AI for Enhanced Efficiency and Better Output” by Haimantika Mitra Explore how developers can integrate AI to boost productivity and unlock smarter solutions.
🌐 “Benefits of Active Contribution to GitHub and Developer Forums” by Aditya Oberio
During the hackathon, mentors were also on hand to help unblock and motivate teams.
🏃🏽♂️ Are You Coming?
Join us at our next hackathon this summer, E-Bhutan and E-Sri Lanka, to discover how open-source contribution can level up your visibility, career, and impact.
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