ITU Co-Organised Build-a-thon 4.0 advances AI-Native Networks ahead of AI Impact Summit 2026

Build-a-thon 4.0 on AI-native networks and applications has taken place in India as part of an official pre-summit event of the AI Impact Summit 2026, bringing together key stakeholders to advance practical innovation in artificial intelligence-driven network technologies.

The event was co-organised by the AI for Good initiative under the International Telecommunication Union, in collaboration with partners from government, academia and industry. It opened with remarks from Dr Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau at the ITU, and Mr Sujit Kumar of the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, who underscored the importance of collaboration, technical excellence and real-world impact in the evolution of AI-native networks.

Build-a-thon 4.0 builds on the success of previous ITU Focus Group build-a-thons, adopting a hands-on approach designed to move participants beyond research and pre-standardisation discussions towards the implementation of deployable use cases. The format brings together researchers from academia, startup founders, engineers and industry professionals to collaboratively develop and test practical solutions.

This edition focuses on AI-enabled smart broadcasting and AI-native networks, with participating teams developing proofs of concept, demonstrating real-world application scenarios and contributing technical insights to the work of the ITU Focus Group on AI-Native Networks.

Outstanding teams are set to receive prizes supported by sponsors Free Stream, EdgeBeam Wireless and AdCore® Local LLC. The organisers also acknowledged the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering for hosting the event.