Cardano at the ITIZ Hackathon 2025 (CDMX): results and learnings

English General Discussions
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Hello everyone,
I am Erick, Cardano ambassador in Mexico.
I want to share with the global community one of our recent activities and open a space to receive your feedback, ideas, and suggestions on how to continue strengthening Cardano’s impact in university events and technological spaces.

Participation of Cardano as Partner in the ITIZ Hackathon 2025
On November 06 and 07, 2025, we had the opportunity to participate as a partner of the ITIZ Hackathon 2025, held at the Instituto Tecnológico de Iztapalapa (CDMX).
Our objective was clear: to share Cardano’s philosophy, principles, and vision with young developers, students, and teachers.

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Main results and learnings
During the event we interacted with more than 150 participants who already had some knowledge about blockchain, but were not yet familiar with Cardano. When presenting the scientific approach of the project, its layered architecture, and its design focused on long-term security and sustainability, many showed genuine interest in learning more and exploring opportunities within the ecosystem.

One of the most valuable achievements was channeling teams and students into our Cardano Mexico community, where we are now providing support so they can begin to build and develop within the ecosystem.

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Additionally, we not only connected with participants. We also generated interest from teachers, student communities, and the Institute’s authorities.
In fact, we held a meeting with Mtro. Miguel Ángel Hernández, the program director, with whom we started the proposal to sign a collaboration agreement between Cardano Mexico and the Instituto Tecnológico de Iztapalapa to promote joint activities in the future.

Actions carried out

  • I confirmed Cardano’s participation as an official sponsor and designed the stand materials.
  • We delivered refreshments for the 150 participants as part of the sponsorship.
  • At the opening of the event, I gave an introductory Cardano talk, accompanied by ambassador Cristian Rojas
  • On day 2, I collected a database of the participating teams to follow up with them.
  • At the request of the attendees, I delivered a Cardano Masterclass to more than 50 students and developers, focused on fundamentals, governance, and opportunities with Catalyst.
  • Formal meeting with the program director to propose the collaboration agreement ITIZ – Cardano Mexico.

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Direct impact

  • +150 hackers on-boarded
  • Stand operating for both days
  • Database created for follow-up
  • Masterclass successfully delivered
  • Collaboration agreement initiative in progress

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Invitation to the global community
I would love to receive your feedback, ideas, or suggestions on how to improve this type of initiative, especially to:

  • strengthen developer onboarding,
  • generate more efficient educational materials,
  • increase university participation,
  • make better use of hackathons to attract talent to Cardano.

Any recommendation will be very valuable to help grow these efforts in Mexico and continue connecting more young people with the ecosystem.
Thank you for reading and for the work each of you does in your regions.
Greetings from Mexico :mexico:
— Erick Valadez
Cardano Ambassador

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Hey Jericko,

Reading your post carefully, I am genuinely impressed by the remarkable work you’ve accomplished, especially achieving the outstanding result of reaching up to 150 people who previously knew nothing about Cardano.

However, what is often observed in similar events is that while many people participate and the ecosystem benefits, only a few actually become active contributors within the Cardano community. Perhaps you have already considered this, but I would suggest creating a group or forum to bring these individuals together, start providing them with practical opportunities within the Cardano ecosystem—such as Project Catalyst—and show them the various paths that can help them become autonomous and committed to Cardano.

Kudos to you and to the whole Mexico Cardano Community.

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Thank you very much for your comment. It means a lot to the Cardano community in Mexico and to me. We are following your advice from the group. Let’s continue building Cardano through education. Greetings from Mexico :mexico:, my friend.

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Thank you sincerely for these thoughtful considerations, my friend.
On behalf of the Cardano community in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we also extend our warmest greetings to you.